


Sign of Times

by Leosity



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader will have powers, Season 1, Season 2, Slow Romance, Stranger Things (TV 2016) - Freeform, steve harrington/reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-12-30 19:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18321437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leosity/pseuds/Leosity
Summary: I decided I would post two chapters of this story in one day because I recently caught up with Stranger Things and I can't wait for season 3.Thanks for reading [:





	1. | The Guardians |

_**“CAR ACCIDENT KILLS MOTHER AND CHILD”** _

“I’m sorry it had to end like this, Robert. No one expected the vehicle to lose control and fall off the bridge. I guess it was too much to hope for the baby to survive but… the car took them both all together”

“I’m sorry, too. But at least we still have others. We can’t let this hold us back. We’ve come too far to stop, right?”

“This is why I wouldn’t have anyone else as my partner, brother”

Maggie groans as she makes her way to the door. Frustrated that she had visitors this late at night. She clicks on the light and unlocks the door. She tries to greet this person with as much kindness as she can but pauses when she finds the exterior deserted. She’s hardly surprised if it was some supernatural going on but odds are it was annoying ding-dong ditchers. However, she didn’t think teenagers would be wandering about this late. Just when she’s about to head back to bed, the whimpers of a baby reach her ears and she looks down to find just that waking up in a basket. She takes action quickly and picks up the basket, taking one more look around and heads inside. In the light, she spots a glimmering necklace. She takes a good look at it-- an engagement ring hangs on the chain. One she has seen before. Maggie holds back her tears as she tucks the jewelry away and moves to pick up the infant and comfort it. She clicks the lights off and retreats to her bedroom without forgetting to pull the drapes shut.

 

 

“Morning. What did I miss?” Y/n spoke up behind the locker door. Nancy nearly hits her hand on the locker when she jumps in her spot.

“Jesus, Y/n, you’ve got to stop popping up out of nowhere, you’ll give someone a heart attack” Nancy holds her hand to her chest.

“No Nancy, I think you’ve just got the jitters to see Steve in the bathroom” Barb points her eyes at the note in her friend’s hand. Y/n spots it too and swallows her heart, trying to hide the seeping jealousy. Nancy crumples the paper in her hand in attempt to hide it along with her sheepish smile and rosy cheeks.

“So it’s official now?” Y/n plays a smile on her face to show her friend how much she’s in support of her new relationship with Steve, or at least make an effort. Nancy wouldn’t say but shrug her shoulders. But one thing was for sure, she left her two closest friends and made a B-line for the girls bathroom.

“It’s totally official” Barb fills the silence after Nancy had left. The remaining two giggle to themselves before making their way to their first class.

Y/n begins to worry about her absent friend by lunchtime after missing from their first few classes together. What’s worse is that she would be all alone in gym and suffer Carol’s teasing. Asking around for him would be pointless as he was more of an outcast than she was. Jonathan worked long hours and yet manages to spare time for his family and schoolwork, so missing a day was out of place. Especially because it was only Tuesday and so decided she would play it safe and go by his house after school.

On her ride there, she didn’t expect to be stopped by Maggie. She notices her blue car coming to a stop beside her until she pulls the brakes on her bike. She doesn’t stall around before dismounting her bike and picking it up to carry it into the trunk before going back around to sit in the passenger's seat. Maggie fills her in on what she found out earlier that morning-- Will Byers had disappeared last night.

“The more reason to see Jonathan. I should be there with him, he’s probably worried out of his mind”

“I know you want to, but a kid disappearing out of nowhere with hardly any trace of him, it’s breaking news even for a small little place like Hawkins”

“It’s that bad?”

“You know about the controversy the lab was involved with. This could be the same thing for all we know. Brenner could be out looking for more test subjects. If he decided to take them from Hawkins, he could make the disappearance look like it was an accident. Or worse, frame someone else”

“Do you think if Brenner somehow found out the relations I have his family, I’ll be easily spotted”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that”

 

“When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become...”

“Unoccupied space” Nancy answers the note card correctly as she, Barb and Y/n walked their way to their first class.

“A molecule that can- Hey!” Barb cries when the cards are snatched from her hands.

“I don't know, I think you've studied enough, Nance” Y/n grows nervous when she hears her long-time friend interrupt the brief study session, whipping away Carol’s hand when she felt her finger try mess with her hair.

“Steve-” Nancy tries to explain but her boyfriend cuts her short.

“I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Don't worry. Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him”

“Good call” Tommy comments.

“So are you in?”

“In for what?” Nancy asks clueless. Y/n on the other hand, hoped she would answer with a big ‘no’ but her boyfriend was the irresistible, charming Steve.

“No parents? Big house?” Carol gives her hints.

“A party?”

“Ding, ding, ding!”

“It's Tuesday”

“It's Tuesday! Oh, my God” Tommy mocks her, laughing along with Tommy.

“Come on. It'll be low key. It'll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?” Steve asks her.

“Um…”

“Oh, God. Look” Carol catches everyone’s attention as she turns to face someone down the hall. Y/n turns her head and she’s relieved to see Jonathan, however, pinning posters up on the corkboard.

“Oh, God, that's depressing” Steve’s words annoy Y/n, yet she couldn’t bring herself to walk up to him. She wanted to punch herself out of this nonsense.

“Should we say something?” Nancy asks.

“I don't think he speaks” Says Carol.

“How much you want to bet he killed him?”

“Shut up” Steve shoves Tommy and his words. Y/n knows Nancy is going to walk up to him but she can’t help it and beats Nancy to the punch. She taps on Jonathan’s shoulder, he looks neutral even as he looks over his shoulder and to her. She offers him a smile, one he doesn’t return with equal generosity but she doesn’t blame him.

“Hey,” He started, “Sorry I didn’t come yesterday or for calling. I guess I should have called”

“No, you didn’t have to call. I’m just sorry about what happened with Will. At first, I wanted to punch you really bad but then after I found out, I wanted to just hug you. I wanted to see you but then I thought you’d be too occupied with police and whatsoever. I’m just glad you’re here now”

“Thanks, means a lot. But I’m not actually staying today. I promised my mom I would go see Lonnie, thought maybe I’ll Will there”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No. No, it’s fine. My dad's an asshole, you know that. I kinda preferred it if you didn’t meet him at all, you know?”

“Yeah. I get it. Good luck.  I’ll see you soon then?”

“See you soon” Y/n turns away to join her friends, looking back once to find Jonathan taking off out the door. 

 

Y/n couldn’t believe Maggie was letting her go out tonight. During dinner, Maggie had noticed the irritated aura she was giving off and asked for an explanation. Prompting Y/n to fill her in on how Nancy Wheeler was going to lie to her parents in order to go to this party hosted by her boyfriend Steve. Maggie was quick to recognize the name Steve, the boy who Y/n would always hang out with in middle school and elementary.

“Did you say Steve is Nancy’s boyfriend now?” Maggie asks, Y/n letting a sigh slip out.

“Yes. They’re dating. Nancy hasn’t confirmed it but it’s obvious she’s got the hots for him”

“I thought you did, too”

“No! Well, yeah, I used to but I guess I missed my shot. Too bad for me. It’s cool though, I’m happy for Nancy but I just hope hanging around Steve’s friends doesn’t change her”

“Like it changed Steve?” Y/n opened her mouth to justify but there was nothing to correct, it was all true. “Sweetheart, I may be old but I know when something changes. You and Steve used to be glued to the hip, now it’s a rare occasion”

“Time changes people, Maggie, you know that”

“Tell you what, you finish up, go get ready and I’ll drive you to Steve’s house”

“What?”

 

There Y/n sat in front of the big house, hugging her knees to her chest as she waited for Barb and Nancy to arrive. No way in hell will she enter that house alone. And her wish came true when the two girls show up to the house but she’s as surprised as they are to see her.

“You guys walked?” Y/n asks as she pulls herself up, patting her hands on her pants to clean them of any dirt.

“No” Nancy answers.

“What are you talking about? We walked three blocks because Nancy didn’t want to be seen by the neighbors”

“I just wanna play it safe. You don’t know who might know our parents and tell them we were here at Steve's partying and we’re gonna be seen out here if we don’t get inside now” Nancy led the two to the door and reaches over to ring the doorbell. “Barb, chill” She tells her friend when she sees her jitter.

“I’m chill” The double doors pull apart, revealing Steve behind them with an excited grin.

“Hello, ladies”

“Sorry we’re late” Nancy says as they file into the house. Y/n and Barb continue to stand awkwardly, almost like two fishes out of water. Y/n tries not to stare at Steve but instead at the floors and walls. Before she knew it, Steve led the trio through the living room and to the backyard where they were greeted by intoxicated Tommy and Carol.

“Hey” Barb quietly whispered to Y/n. “Help me take care of Nancy? Like be her 'guardian' and make sure she doesn’t get too drunk or do something we know she would regret”

“Of course” Y/n nodded. She and Barb tried paying no mind to the teasing all the while Nancy got comfortable too quickly. Her jacket was discarded and Y/n wondered when she had removed it.

Y/n removes hers next and silently walks to another chair at the end. Immediately, she feels cozy with the chilly air hitting her warm skin. But while she was getting comfortable, she was also growing bored. She looks to Tommy and Carol as they fool around near the edge of the pool for some form of entertainment but her attention is cut short when she catches Steve in the corner of her eye walking to his seat with a beer can in his hand. All eyes on him, he rips into the can and chugs it from the bottom before putting it aside to relax on his seat beside Nancy.

“Was that supposed to impress me?” His girlfriend asks.

“You’re not?” Steve jokes.

“You are a cliche, you do realize that?”

“You are a cliche. What with your… your grades and your band practice” He lists lighting a cigarette.

“I’m so not in band”

“Okay, party girl. Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then” Steve hands her the knife, she takes it and a can with confidence as she begins to rip into it. She’s so confident she refuses to listen to Steve’s guidance. He, Tommy and Carol began to chant her to chug the beer once she tore a hole in it before finishing it with a short bow.

“Barb, you wanna try?” Nancy offers the girl.

“What? No. No, I don’t want to. Thanks” Nancy continues to encourage her and once Barb takes the can and knife, Y/n knows it would probably be up to her to take care of both girls. The knife misses the can and cuts Barb’s hand instead. Y/n is up on her feet by now, slowly stepping towards her injured friend. When Barb asks for the bathroom, Y/n is quick to offer to take her there and help her wound, seeing as though she’s been over several times before. 

She leads Barb inside, finding the bathroom in no time and begins to search for the first aid kit. While Barb cradled her bleeding hand over the sink, Y/n made of mess of things as she pulled out drawers and cabinets.

“Found it yet?” Barb asks, her voice almost breaking as if she was at the verge of tears.

“Dammit, it must be in the bathroom upstairs” Y/n realized. She took a rag and soaked it under the faucet and held to Barb’s hand. “Wait right here, I’m gonna go look up stairs” She hurries out the door, hearing Barb mutter something about regretting to even come here in the first place. Y/n finds the other bathroom at the end of the hall and quickly gets to searching for the first aid. With success, she snatches the alcohol and bandages and returns to Barb. She helps clean the wound first before trying to wrap the bandage around her hand but she notices as Barb grows impatient.

“I’ve got it, Y/n! Just let me do it on my own” Barb yanks her hand back and focuses on helping her wound.

“Sorry, I was just trying to help”

“No, I’m sorry for freaking out. Tonight just isn’t my night”

“It’s okay. I know exactly how you feel. I’m gonna go put these back and let Nancy know you’re doing fine”

“Thanks” 

Steve’s gaped door catches Y/n’s attention as she walked back to the stairs. Curiosity got the best of her and she approached the door, lightly pushing it open. It was definitely his bedroom however, it was nothing like it used to be. Toys would be scattered around the floor, now it was mostly small pieces of clothing. The walls were covered in terrible kid drawings but now they were posters of Bon Jovi, A-ha, posters of cars and women. On one shelf, a line of old trophies and photos sat against the wall. She got close enough to examine them and realized they were trophies from elementary, the pictures were family photos of Steve and his parents-- when they had good days.

Y/n moved along to his drawer, a clutter of photos and other items sat on the surface. When Y/n looked, she saw the first few photos of Steve freshman year when he had tried to go for the football team. Other photos were of him and his scummy friends. She picks it up and reveals another picture behind that one, a picture of her and Steve the last month of summer before they’d enter their first year of high school. Reminisce fills her to the point where she wants to shed tears but here was not the place for that. If only she travel to that time and prevent her relationship with Steve to go stale but she couldn’t… He wouldn’t miss a picture of someone he didn’t talk to anyways, so she folds it and tucks it into the front pocket of her pants and finally leaves the bedroom. As she approaches the stairs, she comes face to face with Steve and her stomach explodes in butterflies. He looked soaking wet under the light with a towel around his neck. That explains the watering splashing and yelling she heard earlier. Y/n smiles sheepishly and tries to not trip or look like a fool as she walked past her childhood crush but his voice catches her off guard.

“Hey, what were you doing up here?” She stops in her tracks and turns around all while trying to control the beat of her heart.

“Oh, it’s just that the aid-kit wasn’t down stairs so I had to look up here. Sorry, I hope I wasn’t intruding”

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t think you would remember where it was”

“Good memory I guess”

“Yeah, after, what? Three years? You still remember”

“Sure do” She nods her head, feeling as the air turned awkward. It was almost suffocating.

“Listen...” He began, his voice told her he was dying to say something but she wouldn’t have any of it and interrupts him.

“It’s getting late, I think I should get going” She turns around and makes her way to the stairwell where she runs into Nancy coming up. She, too, was drenched in water and the Clorox hit Y/n’s nose like a train. Y/n looks at the bottom and finds Barb watching her friend go with a disappointed look. “Going somewhere?” She mutters to Nancy to which she doesn’t respond and brushes past her to follow Steve into his room. Y/n sighs and shakes her head. It was all crystal clear and she didn’t have the guts to stick around the same house where her friend and ex-friend/crush would be having sex. At least that’s what it was painted to look like.

“So much for guardian” Barb mutters as Y/n makes it to the main floor.

“Yeah. I don’t think we can talk Nancy out of this anymore. What do you wanna do?”

“I promised Nance I would take care of her and I’m going to keep my promise. I’ll just wait for her and take her home afterwards. You should stay, too, you shouldn’t be walking out this late” Y/n looks up the stairs with only one thing on her mind, Steve. She would rather walk home in the dark than stay in the same house while her crush takes another girl to bed. Barb can see through Y/n, in fact, she’s hinted before at liking Steve in the past but she always tried to hide it, especially around Nancy. “It’s up to you, Y/n. But I can’t leave Nancy on her own”

“And you won’t” Y/n smiled. “Take care of her. See you tomorrow, Barbie” With that, Y/n left out the front door, her heart aching as she walked away, eyes stinging with tears.

The quiet night was enough to keep her on guard as she traveled on foot. With her mind playing tricks on her, she keep a close eye on her surroundings in case some creep decided to follow her home. But she stops at the sound of leaves shuffling, her hands in the pockets of her jacket clutched as she tried calming herself down, telling herself it was her imagination. It didn’t stop her from looking over her shoulder, nothing. Then on the other side, still nothing.

 

Jonathan was on his way home after having spent nearly an hour walking through the woods with his camera. The shame he felt from taking the photo of a shirtless Nancy still burned within him, he didn’t know what he was thinking. But he knew he would have to get rid of them before someone caught him with them just as soon as he develops the others. The rock music playing was too soft but it was soothing and it helped him get through the eerie night drive. Too bad it began to static up out of nowhere, followed by his headlights flickering. Now it was getting weird. Jonathan gave up on the music and shut it off completely before moving to fiddle with the controls of his car, all while trying to keep his eyes on the road. No matter how many times he tried moving it, the light would blink and go off and repeat the process. Until finally they stopped and Jonathan sighed in relief, looking up to focus on the road but gasped, pushing down hard on the brakes with a squeak. His body flung forward, nearly hitting the wheel but the seat belt played its purpose. When Jonathan finally sat back against his seat, his heart started to slow down along with his breathing. But he couldn’t fathom the sight in front of him, at the same time, he grew worried. 

Y/n was on her knees, looking fatigued as if she had just ran The Mile in gym class. With her shoulders slouched and head hanging, her hair covering her face from the side, he couldn’t tell if she was injured. But as he unbuckled his seat belt and approached his friend, he knew she was breathing.

“Y-y/n, what the hell happened? Are you alright?” He crouched down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention in case she hadn’t heard him. She finally looks up to meet his eyes and he gets a good look at her. She looks dazed, and most definitely tired but what he noticed more was the blood dripping down her nose. He wastes no more time. “Come on, Y/n, I’ll get you home. Can you stand?” He can barely hear her but she responds with a soft ‘no’ so he wraps one arm around her shoulders and the other goes under her legs. He picks her up and quickly returns to the passengers side of the door. He slightly leans down and pulls at the handle and kicks it open with his foot. He carefully places Y/n on the seat and fastens her seat belt before shutting the door and hurrying over to his side. Jonathan takes one more look around before entering the car himself and speeds off. He casts several looks at his friend who leans against the window, her eyes drooping ever so slowly. He doesn’t bother to say anything and just keeps on driving.


	2. | The Flower |

Jonathan held Y/n's arm around his neck as he practically dragged her on her feet towards the front door of her house. He continuously whispered words of encouragement, telling her they were almost to her door. She would only send whimpers back in response. Jonathan rung the doorbell and soon enough, Maggie opens the door.  
"What happened?!" She asked Jonathan as she helped carry Y/n to her bed.

“I don’t know. I found her like this on the road not too far from Steve’s house” He answers as they lay her down.

“You don’t know if she’s been drinking do you?” Maggie begins to examine her face, the blood on her nose being the first thing she notices.

“No, she wasn’t drinking” Maggie turns to him all serious.

“You didn’t see anything did you?”

“What? No. I told you, I was driving and found her in the middle of the road, on her knees. She couldn’t stand, she could barely speak. I don’t know what happened”

“Alright” She nods her head. “I believe you. Thank you, son. For bringing her home”

“Do you know if she’ll be okay? Maybe we should take her to the hospital to check for any concussions”

“No. That won’t be necessary. I’m a nurse myself, she’ll be okay in my hands. Why don’t you head on home? I’m sure you need the rest with your brother being gone” He nods and lets her show him to the door. “Thanks again. Say hello to your mother for me” She shuts the door and sighs in relief before returning to help Y/n clean up and get her to bathe. 

 

Y/n and her dependent caretaker sit at the dining table in silence. Y/n stares hard at her breakfast in deep thought, Maggie waits for her until she sighs in defeat.

“I can’t remember what it looked like but for some reason, I think of a flower when I try to picture it. At least it did when it opened its… face. When it was closed, it was nothing but blank” Maggie sits back in her chair. “You don’t think it… it’s Will, do you? Like the lab took him and turned him into a monster?”

“No. The lab mostly did physiological tests on people but they weren’t so inhumane as to turn people into creatures. I don’t know what this thing is but I do know is that I don’t want you staying out late anymore. No later than six, you hear me?”

“Yeah”

“And speaking of which, you know I won’t force you to go to school today if you don’t want to. It’ll save you the trouble of having to cover up those bruises on your neck” Maggie points with her eyes, causing Y/n to quickly pull the turtle neck farther up.

“I know but I wanna see Jonathan. He helped me last night, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, you win. I’ll drop you off today and pick you up, deal?”

“Deal”

 

Y/n took and switched some books from her locker, only the ones she knew she would and wouldn’t need for her first class. Once the task was finished, she closed her locker and looked down the hall where Nancy’s locker was located at. She swallowed her heart when she spotted her and Steve sharing a kiss. She didn’t see Barb anywhere so she decided she would just wait in class for the both of them. Y/n tried walking past the smooching couple without sharing another glance.

She took her seat right away, avoided bumping into anyone. As she sat down, she saw the two empty desks beside her and waited patiently for her friends. But she’s left with questions when she sees only Nancy walk into class, alone. Once she takes her seat, Y/n notices Nancy is also surprised to find Barb’s chair empty. They meet eyes and Y/n shrugs knowing she was about to ask about Barb but with no use, Nancy turns to Ally in front of her. Y/n listens in and learns that she hasn’t seen the girl either.

“Wait, so you’re saying Barb stayed afterwards and you left on your own?” Nancy clarifies with Y/n’s explanation. The two hiding out in the bathroom during passing.

“Yes. She said she would keep your promise”

“And this was around ten?” Y/n nods her head. “She wasn’t there after Steve and I-” She quickly stops herself, shyly looking at Y/n and back to the floor. Y/n ignored the burning jealousy.

“She was gone when you woke up and you didn’t try calling her?”

“She only uses her home phone to call me, that would have ended in a disaster. I’m sure she just stayed home today, maybe she wasn’t feeling good after that cut she got”

“Maybe. But I think you should really call her later. She was hurt and upset after you… you... you know”

“I will. Thanks”

Jonathan minded his business as he sat on the staircase staring at his lunch. The sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs cued him to move aside again to make way for whoever was coming. But instead of stepping down, they sat down next to him. He looks at them and realizes it was Y/n carrying a tray of food. Her lips holding a warm smile.

“Hey” She started.

“Hey”

“You don’t mind if I sit here do you?”

“Not at all”

“Great” She picked up her chocolate pudding and began to remove the plastic lid, the smell of sweet chocolate hits her nose and smiles giddily.

“Dessert before lunch?” She lightly chuckles.

“You want some?”

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry”

“Clearly” She gestured the full paper bag in his hands. As he scrambles for a excuse, she beats him to it. “You know, just because you’re feeling down, it doesn’t mean you should stop eating. I mean, how do you expect to find Will on an empty stomach? Plus, I owe you for last night. Maggie would have freaked if I never came home”

“What happened? You freaked me out, too, you know. I thought someone had tried to hurt you. I’m glad I found you when I did”

“I think you were are the right place at the right time”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you another time. For now, feast on this delicious treat with me as a thanks” She hands him the other spoon and just as they stuck their silverware into the goopy food, the giggles coming from a couple catch their attention. Down the stairs and down the hall, the two geeks spot Nancy and Steve sharing yet another kiss in the middle of the hall. How ironic that their individual crushes were displayed together. Y/n tore her eyes away, sucking up the pain while Jonathan just looked on with envy. That’s when he remembered the pictures from last night.

“Nice” Y/n cleared her throat, “I think I’ve lost my appetite now, too. Must be contagious”

“You okay?” He asks her, finally looking away from the two lovebirds.

“Yeah. I think I’m just gonna go to the library” She stands, prepared to toss away her food in the bin at the bottom of the stairs. “Wanna come?”

“Uh, actually, I think I’m just gonna head to my next class. I’ll see you later?” He answers, slowly climbing his way up. She nods in agreement and he disappears up the stairs.

 

Y/n walks past Steve and his friends, including a distressed Nancy but she didn’t bother to say anything as she didn’t feel like having to deal with Carol or Tommy. She looked around the parking lot in search for Maggie but instead, she found Jonathan on the ground picking stuff up from the ground. She walks over and learns it was ripped pieces of photos and his shattered camera.

“What the hell happened?” Y/n asked crouching by his side.

“Nothing” Jonathan’s trembling voice told her otherwise.

“No! It’s obviously not. You can stop lying to me and tell me what’s wrong, Jonathan. I thought I was your friend”

“You’re not my friend Y/n! Just because you and I have an interest in photography, doesn’t make us friends. Just because you feel bad for me, doesn’t mean I’m your friend!” He shouts in her face, picking up the pieces of his camera and placing them on his car. He stops in his tracks, realizing what he said was actually pretty hurtful. Before Will’s disappearance, the only time they would talk was during their art class, specifically talking about photos and art. Other times, it was them two trading inspirational thoughts about the world of art. She’s only ever gone over to his house once for a project and he’s never gone over to hers-- not including last night. They never hung out during lunch until today, they never hung out outside of school. They were both outcasts, geeks. Y/n was the known “teachers pet,” a straight A student, never missing assignments or turning them in late. Jonathan was the creep with a camera. Two similar but very different people. So maybe Jonathan wasn’t completely lying, but it still hurt.

He looks back to find Y/n’s frown, eyes glued to the ground. He cursed at himself, calling himself a jerk and a dumbass. But before he could mutter out a word, Y/n looks over and finds Maggie waiting for her. Without a second thought, she picks herself up and leaves without a word. Jonathan’s attempt to call out to her dies in vain.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong or are you going to play the quiet game for the rest of the night?” Maggie asks, watching as Y/n poked at her salad with her fork. She meets Maggie’s gaze for a moment before it drops down to her food again. Maggie sighs and puts down her knife and fork cutting into her meat. “What happened? Was it Nancy? Barb?” Y/n shakes her head. “What about Jonathan?” Her eyes snap back up for a second and it clicks in Maggie’s head. “Is it about last night? Was he asking about what happened? Did he see your bruises?”

“Maggie--” Y/n sighs but her voice it cut off at the sound of the telephone ringing, catching them both off guard. Maggie stands and picks it up.

“Hello? Yes, this Ms. Olson. Yes, Y/n is here with me now, why? What’s wrong?” She pauses for a moment, listening to the voice on the other end. “Yes. We’d love to come over. Thank you for letting me know. Goodbye” She hangs the phone up and looks to Y/n. “That was Mrs. Wheeler. She was wondering if we could head on over and talk with her and the Hollands about Barb. Nancy says she’s worried something might’ve happened to her last night”

“She never went home?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to find out, won’t we?”

 

The room was somber and quiet as Y/n and Nancy took turns explaining the events of last night, before Barb had disappeared. Y/n didn’t know how much Nancy had told her mother about her relationship with Steve, if any, and tried avoiding bringing up that the two had slept together. However, she did have to blow it for Nancy and reveal that it wasn’t a vigil they were going to but a party at Steve’s. But that was really the least of the Holland’s worries. In the middle of discussion, the door opened revealing Mike to be walking through. His face told everyone he was upset and Mrs. Wheeler quickly got up to comfort her son. And something told them it had to do something with Will. 

 

It was total silence between Nancy and Y/n after what happened last night. After finding out Will Byers body was found in the quarry. It was disturbing news but that wasn’t the first thing on Y/n’s mind throughout the whole day. It was the fact that she knew that at some point today, she would be called in for questioning by the Hawkins police. She didn’t know when that would be but it would be soon. A tapping on her shoulder scares her out of deep thought and turns to the source. It was Nicole, along with Amy and Sasha giggling to themselves.

“Sorry to hear about your boyfriend Jonathan cheating on you” Nicole says.

“What? Jonathan isn’t my boyfriend” Y/n corrects.

“Well, whatever he is, he’s total creep for snapping photos of you guys on Tuesday night at Steve’s party. Especially those shots of Nancy and Steve getting steamy together” She high pitches her voice but her words leave Y/n speechless, nonetheless.

“Careful, the teachers pet still has the hots for Steve, remember? You’ll get her all riled up” Amy comments. Of course she would say that, being one of the few that knew about her secret admiration for the boy.

“Not as riled up as Jonathan was when Steve smashed his camera. You should’ve seen the look on his face! ‘Please no, not the camera!’” Nicole puts her hands to her eyes, imitating a crying baby. Y/n prepares to slap the girl until her name is suddenly called out. She looks up at the door and sees the administrator calling her name, asking her to come along with her. As Y/n stands, heart racing, collecting her things as she hears half the class gasp and “ooh” in her direction. It was an overreaction but it was the first time she was pulled out of class by the admin.

 

“Do you know what could have been upsetting Ms. Holland?” The officer questioned Y/n for millionth time.

“I don’t know what she was upset about. I didn’t really think to ask at the time. Um, but what does this have to do with her disappearance?”

“Well, it’s just that we don’t believe she could have been abducted but rather she ran away”

“Ran away? Why would she run away?”

“Well that’s what we’re trying to figure out, Ms. Olson” The other officer answered.

“No, I mean, Barbra wasn’t that kind of girl to just pick up her stuff and leave. She loves her parents, her school, her friends. That night she told me she would stay and drive Nancy home. That she would keep her promise”

“Well, it looks like Ms. Holland had a change of heart. Ms. Wheeler told us that Barbra had left her car three blocks from Mr. Harrington’s home”

“And?”

“It was gone by the time we checked this morning”

“So, what? She just up and left? For what reason?”

“Well, we came up with the idea that she might have been upset with Ms. Wheeler spending too much time with Mr. Harrington. Disappearances in teens has happened for just that reason”

“She was upset about that but--”

“So you’re saying she _was_ jealous of Ms. Wheeler?”

“No! Not jealous but upset because Nancy had asked her be her ‘guardian,’ make sure she didn’t do anything stupid or… or”

“Or…?”

“Have sex with him. It was me, I left around nine because… because I have a crush on Steve. I’m sorry” Y/n said, slouching back against her chair, feeling as though a weight she didn’t know she was carrying was lifted off her shoulders.

“Do you know if they had sexual intercourse Tuesday night?”

“I don’t know”

 

Y/n was hesitant to come today but she has yet to tell Maggie about her fight with Jonathan. She didn’t know if it was important enough to tell her. She hasn’t said a word to him, nor has sent a glance his way despite the ones he’s been sending her.  

Once the ceremony was over and the guests dispersed to regroup at the wake, Jonathan made his way over to Y/n where he was desperate to get some answers from her about the night he found her on the road. But with the blink of an eye, she was gone. He searched around but found no sign of her except for Maggie who was already heading towards his parents to most likely give her condolences. Jonathan gave up on searching for the girl and instead moved on to meeting up with Nancy.

“This is where we know for sure it's been, right?” He asks Nancy, the two sitting on the ground against a rusty gate.

“So, that's…” Nancy trails off.

“Steve's house. That road is where I found Y/n. And that's the woods where they found Will's bike and that's my house” He points at the red ex marks on the map.

“Did you talk with Y/n?”

“No. She was gone before I could talk to her”

“And you think whatever it was I saw, is the same thing that your mom saw and the same thing that attacked Y/n?”

“Yeah. Exactly. I mean, it's all within a mile or something. Whatever this thing is, it's not traveling far”

“You want to go out there”

“We might not find anything”

“I found something. And if we do see it then what?”

“We kill it”

 

Y/n works weekends at the Hawkins Theater. While most days she enjoyed working, today was distracting especially after yesterday. She couldn’t forget Jonathan’s words, his questions about Tuesday night. But she hoped that avoiding him would keep him and Nancy from going after this monster. It was dangerous and Maggie said the laboratory might have something to do with that monster and the death of Will.

Y/n looks up from her book when she sees Steve and his friends surrounding the front of the theater. Tommy climbs up a ladder and Steve and his friends watch as he does something to the board. She can’t see from where she stands but she hears the sound of spray paint and the thing itself hits her nose like a ton of bricks. Pedestrians walk slowly as they observe the teen’s actions. Y/n puts her book down and exits the ticket booth just as Steve and his friends drive off into the nearby alleyway. She looks up and finds to see the board was just vandalized with the words “Starring Nancy the Slut Wheeler” in big, red letters. Her hand covers her mouth in shock as onlookers begin to whisper among themselves. She curses at herself for not doing something earlier but she’s just as furious with Steve. She clutches her hands and stomps off into the alleyway where Steve and his friends were joking around, laughing at their own stupid jokes.

“What the hell is your problem, Steve?!” Y/n shouts at the boy, catching everyone’s attention.

“Guys I think little goody two shoes is rebelling” Carol comments but Y/n ignores past her and stares right at Steve.

“Why would you do that to Nancy? What did she ever do to you?!”

“Y/n, go home. This has nothing to do with you, okay?” Steve tries brushing her off.

“Like hell it does! Nancy’s my friend, God I should’ve known you were just playing her. And to think I actually…” She scoffs. “How could you do that to her?” She could hear Carol and Nicole calling her a cry baby from the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Careful, Y/n, you’ll give yourself a nosebleed if you make yourself jealous” Carol teases. Steve’s eyes shift from his ex-friend to his ex-girlfriend. With just as much anger, Nancy storms her way over to Steve.

“Aw, hey there, princess!” Carol greets.

“Uh-oh, she looks upset” Tommy comments. Y/n looks over her shoulder and quietly mutters her name but she’s just as shocked as the others when her hand connects to Steve’s cheek with a hard slap.

“What is wrong with you?” Nancy starts.

“What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I was worried about you. I can't believe that I was actually worried about you” Steve scoffs to himself.

“What are you talking about?”

“I wouldn't lie if I were you. You don't want to be known as the lying slut now, do you?” says Carol.  

“Speak of the devil. Hi” Tommy inhales his cigarette.

“You came by last night?”

“Ding! Ding! Ding! Does she get a prize?” Says Carol.

“You guys were together?” Y/n asks.

“They were more than together” Tommy answers suggestively.

“Look, I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't like that” Nancy tries to clarify.

“What, you just let him into your room to... study?”

“Or for another pervy photo session?” Says Tommy.

“We were just--”

“You were just what? Finish that sentence” Steve cuts her off, his voice growing low and almost menacingly. “Finish the sentence” The silence is heavy and tense as Nancy doesn’t mutter out a word. “Go to hell, Nancy” With that, Jonathan and Y/n reach for the furiating girl and pull her away. “You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed” Steve starts again and Y/n grows annoyed, “I always took you for a queer, but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father” Steve shoves him a few times and Y/n knows it was going to get ugly. “Oh, yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family”

“Jonathan, leave it” Nancy tells him.

“Quit it, Steve!” Y/n warns him but the boy only continues to ramble on.

“I mean, your mom I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother.

“Steve, shut up!”

“I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it's a disgrace to the entire--” Jonathan sends a punch to Steve’s face, causing him to fall against the wall but he recovers from it quickly and rams into Jonathan, igniting a fight between the two. Pleads to stop come from Y/n and Nancy while cheers of encouragement come from Steve’s clique. Y/n scrambles around for an idea, her hands clutching in her fist-- she wants to but how will she get Jonathan and Nancy out of here without being seen? She backs down from the idea when sound of police sirens wails in the distance and grow closer. Two policemen, whom Y/n recognized, interfere and pull the two boys apart. One takes a hit to the face while the other manages to get a hold of Jonathan and slams him to against Steve’s car. The other chases after Steve and Tommy as Y/n and Nancy watch in distress as Jonathan gets cuffed.

The trio sat together at the police station, Jonathan still cuffed at the wrists after having written some witness reports. Y/n had discarded the annoying bowtie she had to wear for her uniform and rolled up her sleeves. They barely exchanged many words, at least until Nancy came back with ice for Jonathan’s wounds. Y/n stared for a few minutes, not needing any glasses to see the growing chemistry between the two.

“What?” Nancy asked her, pulling her out of deep thought. She glanced away, clearing her throat.

“So, you guys went monster hunting?” Jonathan and Nancy’s attention stuck to the girl beside them now with a hint of confusion. “The faceless monster, did you guys kill it?”

“No. We know where it lives now though”

“Uh, how do you know that? We never told you what we were doing” Jonathan asks and Y/n knew it was time.

“You did, Jonathan… You just don’t know that”

“Y/n, what are you talking about?”

“Do you guys trust me?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided I would post two chapters of this story in one day because I recently caught up with Stranger Things and I can't wait for season 3.  
> Thanks for reading [:


	3. | The Demogorgon |

Joyce and Chief Hopper arrived to the station a few hours later and after finding the box of supplies in Jonathan’s car, he and Nancy began to explain the monster they believe they found in one of the pictures. Joyce and Nancy had recognized it and Y/n had finally revealed that it was that monster it had seen, but there was little more to the story. Jonathan and Nancy believed the monster was responsible for Barb and Will’s disappearance and that it might be holding them captive in it’s home. Neither of them could really comprehend where it was exactly but they believed it may be attracted by blood. That their plan all along was to trap it and kill it. But nothing was for certain-- they knew nothing of this monster, of this place Nancy had found herself. They didn’t know if Barbra may still be alive but Joyce and Hopper were still certain that Will is. As Joyce and Jonathan went out to have a private discussion, Hopper and Nancy notice Y/n oddly observing the photo, feeling the edges and looking closely at it.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?” asks Nancy and she looks up at the girl.

“This is the part where I need you to trust me, no matter how crazy it may sound, okay?” Hopper looks at his desk where the written reports sat. He reads the one on the bottom, under Nancy’s. His eyes skim her name and it quickly brings him back to the name he found on one of the old newspapers. Magdalene Olson Richards was a scientist and a nurse who worked on the MKUltra experiments.

“Olson? Are you Magdalene Olson’s daughter?” Hopper asks the girl and once again lifts her eyes to meet his.

“I don't think we're talking about the same Maggie” She focuses back on the photo, Hopper dropping the conversation there. Y/n finally begins to feel the photo vibrate and continues to stare hard at the photo. The other two in the room try calling out her name but she’s gone catatonic and completely still. The picture feels as though it growing closer and closer until Y/n feels herself sucked into the photo and watches the moment unfold before her eyes. Meanwhile, Nancy and Hopper feel eerie when they see how large and expanded her pupils have grown. It was inhuman.

Y/n sees Barbra perched up on the diving board at Steve’s house. She looks gloomy, in deep thought as her feet dangle inside the water. Behind her, a familiar shadow looms over her, stalking towards her. She looks over her shoulder, letting out a screech as the monster grabs her and drags her through tiny hole inside a tree. From there, it scares Y/n and jolts, dropping throwing the picture as hard as she can to get away from the terrible vision she saw. She yells in fear when she feels empty and cold. It feels like death. Hopper and Y/n are at her side in seconds, trying to control her shaking. Jonathan and Joyce burst into the room and ask what happened but the other two can’t answer that question for themselves.

As she slowly grows calm, the group start to hear shouting coming from the front office. Hopper stands, telling the others to stay put and goes off to find out what the ruckus was about.

“Y/n, can you please tell us what happened? What was that just now?” Nancy asks. All ears and perked and ready to hear the explanation.

“I looked into the picture” Her voice almost broke as she wiped a falling tear from her cheek. “I saw what Jonathan didn’t. Barb, that thing took her and she was so scared”

“You saw her get taken in the picture? Did you see if she was alive?”

“No. No I can only see the moment for ten seconds”

“How did you do it?” asks Jonathan. She looks at him next, nervously breathing.

“I was… I was born with the ability to travel through time. Maggie taught me how to use it, how to control it. The last three years, I would use it to my advantage-- I would rewind time and give myself extra time to study or finish a project. It helped me stay on top of my grades or get enough sleep. It’s kind of why everyone at school calls me the teachers pet but I never cheated, I worked for my grades just like everybody else with just a little extra time”

“Is that how you knew about our plan before I even told you?”

“Jonathan, the night I was attacked, it wasn’t me who was attacked, it was you. I just went back to make sure I would run into the monster before you”

“You mean…”

“You saved Jonathan’s life?” Joyce asks, her voice filled with glee and tears pooling her eyes. She can’t help but hug the girl just as Hopper walks in through the door. He wastes no time to gather everyone, telling them he might have found this girl named Jane.

They made a stop at Nancy’s home, which was being inspected by the lab. Nancy had to be held back from going near it as she worried for her family but their priority was to search and find Mike and his friends before Brenner could. Hopper and Joyce pushed Nancy for ideas on where they could hiding out at but with no luck, Jonathan comes up with an idea. The search continues at the Byers house. Y/n and Nancy were surprised to find the house a complete mess but that was the least of their worries. They hurried and searched for a radio and as soon as they did, Nancy tried talking through it to reach Mike.

However, they wouldn’t pick up. Nancy tried asking him to pick up but to no avail, prompting Hopper to snatch the device away and speaking into it instead.

“Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl” He pauses. “We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over” Hopper puts the radio down, turning to everyone else, “Anybody got any other ideas?”

 _“_ _Yeah, I copy. It's Mike. I'm here. We're here”_

 

“I won’t need your help, it’s better if I go alone” Hopper tells Y/n. He opens the door, only for it shut when Y/n pushes it.

“I can help, trust me”

“This is a one man job, I’m telling you I don’t need your help” He pushes his way past her and enters the car and jumps when he finds her on the passengers side. “What the hell?! Weren’t you just…”

“I can help” Y/n replies, a small drop of blood leaking out of her nose. He looks out towards the window where Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy watched. Hopper sighs and switches on the engine and driving off towards the kid’s location.

Arriving at the rendezvous, Hopper slows the car when he sees that the junkyard is surrounded with two cars and four men. The two exit out of the car and find cover behind a car. They take a peek at their surroundings and crouch down when Hopper comes up with an idea.

“Okay, that’s the bus Mike was talking about. Here’s the plan. You go knock out those two over in the corner and I’ll take out these two near the bus. Got it?” Y/n doesn’t respond and stands from her cover, Hopper orders her to return immediately but she doesn’t comply. He follows behind her trying to reach and pull her back but what he witnesses catches him off guard. Two of the men freeze, the sound of, what he believed to be, birds chirping tugged at the back of his head but he was too focused on the moment in front of him. Y/n scoops up a long wooden panel and swings it at the man’s head, completely knocking him down. Hopper breaks out of his trance and attacks the other men approaching the bus while Y/n takes care of the other man. Hopper throws out the body from the bus and calls the kids to get out and hurry up. As they leave, Hopper shares a glance with Y/n, still wondering if he was seeing things or not.

Arriving back at the Byers home, Mike and his friends went on to explain this “Upside Down” dimension where Will and Barbra were at. And supposedly Eleven, or El, was able to find people using her powers. It impressed Y/n and couldn’t help but feel as though their gifts might of came from the same source.

Eleven got to work, using the picture of Barb and the radio, she began to search but opening her eyes, they grew sad. She apologizes, saying she can’t find them. She retreats to the bathroom where the boys begin to explain with further detail of Eleven’s powers.

“Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak” Mike explains.

“The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets” Says Dustin.

“Like, she flipped the van earlier” Lucas reveals.

“It was awesome”

“But she's drained”

“Like a bad battery”

“Well, how do we make her better?” Joyce stutters out.

“We don’t we just have to wait and try again” Mike answers.

“How long?” asks Nancy.

“I don’t know”

“Y/n, you have powers” Jonathan points out. Y/n sighs. She was hoping her secret wouldn’t get out to the boys as they were big fans of science fiction.

“You have powers?” Dustin asks, looks of bewilderment on all their faces.

“Like Eleven, your nose bleeds when you use them. You get tired, right? How long does it take for you to gain your energy back?” One by one, the boys start throwing questions at her until Hopper shuts them up.

“I don’t usually keep track but I’d say a few hours. But that doesn’t mean it’s the same for her, our powers are nothing alike”

“The bath” A soft voice whispers. All heads turn to the source and see Eleven standing there.

“What?” asks Joyce.

“I can find them… in the bath”

 

With the help of Mr. Clarke, the group dispersed with tasks of their own to set up a salted bath to help El find Will. Jonathan and Hopper retreat bags of salt. Mike and Nancy found hoses. Dustin and Lucas set up the pool in the gym. Joyce and Y/n find something to cover El’s eyes and they work with a pair of goggles wrapped in duct tape. Everyone regroups at the gym when the pool is ready. Eleven discards all of her items minus the dress and after putting on the goggles, she steps into the pool and lays down until she’s floating. The anticipation grows when the lights flicker off.

“Barbra?” Eleven mumbles, Nancy leans in.

“What’s going on?” She asks when the lights flicker once again.

“I don’t know” Mike answers.

“Is Barb okay? Is she okay?”

“Gone. Gone” Eleven chants over and over again. Joyce and Hopper reach for her hands when she becomes overwhelmed, whispering comforting words. “Castle Byers. Will?”

“You tell him…” Joyce gasps, “Tell him I’m coming”

 _“Hurry”_ Will’s voice echoes through the radio. Eleven rises from the water, removing her goggles as Joyce embraces her. 

 

As decided, Joyce and Hopper would go into the gate and retrieve Will. Y/n catches Jonathan and Nancy leaving and figures they were going to return and hunt the monster. Or in this case, distracting it would help Hopper and Joyce get to Will without any problems.

“You guys didn’t think I was going to let you go on your own did you?” She asks the two when they enter the car, nearly scaring them to death.

“No. Actually I think it’s better if you came along” Jonathan answers, starting the engine. “But first, we have to get our supplies back” The trio return to the police station where they sneak in and retrieve the box of tools. Once arriving at the house, they wasted no time to set up the house with traps, and replacing the light bulbs. They each had their own weapon-- Jonathan’s bat, Nancy’s gun and Y/n’s powers. In which Y/n would make sure to use to help and fight.

Y/n sat against the wall, opposite side of where Jonathan and Nancy were. She held her bandaged hand against her chest as she quietly watched the two awkward teens. She couldn’t help but wonder what would become of the two. The loud banging on the door jumped the trio out of the quietness. The three huddled together as they stared at the door.

“Jonathan? Are you there, man? It's-it's Steve! Listen, I just want to talk!” Nancy opens the door but not enough to let Steve through. Jonathan and Y/n watch for a few seconds as Nancy tries to convince Steve to go home but soon enough, the boy is pushing through and enters the house. He stops for a moment to take in the wild mess.

“You need to get out of here” Jonathan tries pushing him out. “Listen to me.

I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, get out of here!”

“Steve, please, for once, listen and get out. It’s not safe!” Y/n tries to reason.

“What is that smell? Is that is that gasoline?”

“Steve, get out!” Nancy clicks the gun, pointing it at Steve. The other three begin to panic.

“Wait. What? What is going on?”

“You have five seconds to get out of here”

“Okay, is this a joke? Stop. Put the gun down”

“I'm doing this for you”

“Wait. What is this?”

“Three. Two”

“Jesus, Nancy! You’re not gonna shoot him, are you?!” Y/n yelps.

“No, no, no!”

“Nancy! The lights” Jonathan grabs her attention, the three of them circle around the room as the lights continue to blink while the bewildered Steve watches in confusion. All eyes move to the breaking roof, what looks to be the monster is trying to break through. Nancy points up and shoots but they follow up with the plan and take off towards Will’s room. Leaping over the bear trap, they lock themselves in the room and wait for the yo-yo to move. But they wait for nothing as the lights calm down and the monster is no longer heard outside the room.

In a huddle, they walk out of the room and towards the living room but they find the house deserted and quiet. Steve manically mutters to himself and runs to the phone until Nancy swipes it out of his hand, telling him the monster would be coming back and that he needed to go. Y/n felt bad but it was for his own good and Y/n would do anything to keep him safe from that thing. Once he’s running out the door, the lights begin to flicker and the trio are left spinning in circles around the room looking for it. The lights shut off, leaving them in the dark for a second until they spot the monster behind Jonathan. The girls shout his name in warning before being tossed out to the side as it pins Jonathan. Air is knocked out of Y/n’s lungs when her back hits the shelf in the corner. She whimpers when she forces herself to recover quickly and searches around for a weapon. She slightly jumps at the sound of gunshots, hearing Nancy cursing at the monster. Y/n looks up and sees that she caught it’s attention and continues to fire down to the last bullet, unfortunately. But Steve runs in and swings at the monster until he’s backed up into the trap where it catches his foot. Everyone gathers at the hall and watch as Jonathan tosses the lighter into the puddle of gas where it immediately catches flame.

They cover their eyes at the burning light. Y/n notices it pulling at it’s leg to reach them, it would go so far as to chop it’s own foot off to kill them. She gasps, instinctively raising her hand to freeze it but the amount of energy she felt was draining was unbearable. The other three watch on surprised as Y/n steps towards it staring at it with sharp eyes. They’re surprised to see her veins appear through her skin, her pupils nearly widening to the point where it’s overlapped her entire iris. The monster looks disordered. Both Jonathan and Nancy know she’s trying to her powers but something is different. As if the monster is fighting it. What they don’t know is that she’s trying to reverse the monster’s age. Her blood was running crazy, the monster was in pain but it was strong enough to attempt resist. That was until it decided to simply escape. Y/n fell limp, Nancy and Steve catch her in time, coughing nearly to death from the smoke as Jonathan uses the fire extinguisher to put out the fire. The rest learn it was had gotten away but still lived. 

Y/n woke up inside a car. Outside the windows, she could see red, blue and white lights flashing. She remembers going in and out of conscious when the four of them took off in Steve’s car. She sat up, holding her head learning Steve was in the driver's seat in front. In front of them, she saw several ambulance cars and police cars. Too many to count.

“Welcome back” Steve greeted.

“What’s going on?” Y/n groaned.

“I think… Whatever was going on is over”

“Everyone’s okay?”

“I don’t know about everyone but Jonathan and Nancy went to go see if everyone’s alright”

“I should go look for them” Y/n moved to exit the car when Steve’s voice stopped her. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. About everything. Like… three years ago everything. I’m a total jerk for letting us drift apart. I get it if you hate me and never want to forgive me... sorta renders this apology pointless but I thought I'd try” Y/n shakes her head. 

“I don’t hate you, Steve. You’re always going to be my friend, whether you know it or not. I’ll always be here for you”

“One more thing, you did something earlier to that... thing. Something... unnatural” Slowly, her head fell in embarrassment and shame.

"You think I'm a witch or something, don't you?" She took his silence as an answer until he finally voiced his answer.

“No, I was gonna say, it's awesome. Crazy but awesome. I mean, after all this time, my best friend is a superhero”

“Sorry I never told you”

“I’m kinda glad you didn’t” The two share a pleasant laughter until Y/n decides to check up on everyone. She never expected to find Maggie being rolled out of the school, covered in her own blood. She travels with her to the hospital in hopes that she would make it.

 

"Woah! Wait a sec, hold my arm!" Y/n said as she held out her arm to Maggie, waiting for her to grab a hold of her. The woman does as she carries three gifts, prompting a sigh. "You just take the presents, okay?"

"Y/n, I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own. The doctors relieved me three weeks ago!"

"You're gonna slip on the ice" Y/n replies as she shuts the passenger door and approaches the Byers's house with arms full Dolly-- Maggie's fat white cat. The woman eyes the young girl suspiciously.

"Did you rewind?"

"No. I just know you well enough" Maggie follows behind the girl towards the door and knocks gently. Joyce invites them in as they greet each other. The house was completely remodeled and cleaned up after last month's events. Will sat in the living room examining boxes of presents. Y/n excites the boy when she hands him the other three gifts to place under the tree-- one bag for Will and Joyce, the box specialized for Jonathan.

"I'm so glad you made it. I hope the road was so ugly" Joyce voiced her worry as she helped hang Maggie and Y/n's coats. 

"Not all, Joyce. Please, don't worry about us" A flash surprised the three women until they realized it was Jonathan behind his camera. 

"Jonathan! Maybe greet our guests first before you blind them?" He chuckles at his mother's words. Joyce and Maggie trail away to speak privately in the kitchen, leaving Y/n the opportunity to talk with her friend alone. 

"New camera?" She asks him.

"Yeah. Nancy gave it to me as a gift when I went to go pick up Will. You like it?"

" _I_ like it and I'm sure you do too. But I think you might love mine a little more" She sends him a wink before sputtering out towards Will who was peeking his head into his gift. "Hey! No peeking at my gifts! They're made to be opened on Christmas morning or else they'll spoil"

"She's right!" Maggie cut in, beginning to usher the kids out of the living room and into the kitchen. "We can't spoil our gifts before we've even had a taste of your mother's food!" 

"Oh, I don't know. Everything's kind of overcooked and if anything's spoiled, it's probably the vegetables" Joyce spoke with uncertainty. 

"Oh, hush, now, Joyce. What truly matters is that we're all here tonight, together. What else do we need but each other to share a roof over our heads and the food on the table?" Another flash goes off, indicating that Jonathan had taken another photo.  

"Thank you, Maggie. Y/n, you too sweetheart" Y/n sits beside Jonathan, Will across from his brother while Maggie and Joyce took both ends of the dinner table. Will returns to the table with a pale face, Y/n and Maggie notice, but there was no reason to dwell on something that wanted to mended and not burned deeper. Instead, they indulge in the positivity the night had to offer.

 


	4. || Risks and Guilt ||

“Come on, Jonathan. Y/n is even coming. Right Y/n?” Nancy calls out to the girl as she shuts her locker. Y/n looks over her shoulder, taking a bright orange poster that Nancy was handing her and walking alongside her two friends.

“Tina’s Halloween party? The last time I went to a party hosted by Tina, we were eight years old and everyone made me cry when they pulled a Bloody Mary prank on me. No thanks” Y/n gives the poster back to Nancy.

“This isn’t the same thing. No one's gonna pull any pranks. Everyone’s gonna dancing and drinking, having a great time and that includes you two. So you’re both coming. Who knows, you guys might even meet someone” Nancy suddenly shrieks as she’s lifted up in the air for a brief moment by Steve before putting her down. Y/n and Jonathan watch on in dead silence until Jonathan slightly nudges Y/n to keep walking when the love birds share a kiss. Jonathan saves her the pain. Y/n doesn’t hesitate and obliges, not a second thought to look back crossed her mind as they escaped through the crowd of students.

“You wanna just… come over and marathon Friday the 13th with me?” Y/n asks the quiet boy beside her. “I’ll pass by the store and buy a ton of candy for us to share”

“That’s if there’s any candy left” He chuckles. “Or we could get some free candy and get fat on those”

“Whatever way works”

 

“I don’t know if I can do this” Y/n spoke up when Steve pulled up to Barbara's house for the dinner that was promised with her parents. A year passed since her passing but the town, especially her parents, continue to believe she’s still alive, only missing. Nancy and Y/n know all too well what happened to her, how could she explain it to her parents but at the same time, how could she live knowing the truth-- carrying the guilt. Both Steve and Nancy look back to give Y/n a look of sympathy. While Steve doesn’t know the whole extend of her powers, he knows she might have used it to figure out what happened to Barb.

“Me neither but that’s why we have each other. Y/n, I can’t go in there alone, even if I have Steve,” The said boy gives her a side glance, “I need you and I think you need me” Y/n looks up to meet her eyes. “Can you come with me, please?” She gives one nod and follows suit as Steve and Nancy step out the door. Y/n couldn’t help but feel like the third wheel despite it wasn’t a date or anything. They walked side by side down the path to the front door.

“Okay. Ready?” Steve asks once they reach it.

“Yeah”

“Okay” Steve reaches out and pushes the doorbell. Greeted with welcomes and smiles by Mrs. Holland, the trio walk in and she leads them to the dinner table where Mr. Holland soon joined them. The table is set with plates and cups, food from KFC set across.

 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to cook. I was gonna make baked ziti you guys like so much, but I just forgot about the time, and before you know it, ‘Oh my God, it’s five o’clock’” Mrs. Holland explained as everyone picked out food from the middle to fill their plates.

“It’s fine. It’s great” said Nancy.

“Right. I love KFC” Steve commented.

“So, I noticed a ‘For Sale’ sign out in your yard. Is that the neighbors’ or…” She trails off.

“You wanna tell them?” Mrs. Holland turns to her husband.

“Go ahead” He answered.

“We hired a man named Murray Bauman. Have either of you heard of him?” The trio shake their heads. “He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times”

“Pretty well known” Mr. Holland hands Steve a contact card before showing it to Nancy.

“Anyway, he’s a freelance now and agreed to take the case” Y/n’s stomach fell.

“Oh… that’s great. No, that’s really… that’s great, right?”

“Um, what exactly does that mean?”

“Means he’s gonna do what that son of bitch Jim Hop--” Mrs. Holland stops her husband from continuing. “Sorry. What the Hawkins police haven’t been capable of doing. Means we have a real detective on the case”

“It means…,” Mrs. Holland chimes in, “We’re going to find our Barb”

“If anyone can find her, it’s this man” Y/n looks to Nancy and they meet eyes, giving each other knowing eyes. Y/n swallows hard on her saliva before speaking up.

“Can I be excused?” She looks to the Hollands.

“Of course, sweetheart. Bathroom is just there on the left” She tries to stand up with calmness, without alarming anyone but her two friends could see right through her. Y/n closes and locks the bathroom door behind her and immediately falls into tears. She moves to stand in front of the mirror where she washes cold water on her face.

The corners of her eyes catch sight of a photo standing on the half-wall. She looks at it, vibrations quickly emit from it.

_“Aw, you look so pretty Barbara”_

_“Mom, you’ve told me that a thousand times now!”_

_“And I’ll tell you it a million times more”_

Y/n’s hand shoots up, slamming the picture down before breaking down once more. Her legs give up on her and she carefully lowers herself down to sit on the edge of the bathtub. The sound of the faucet helps block out the sound of her crying, that way nobody could hear her.

 

Y/n had sat contemplating on the couch for an hour already. While she was taking out the movies to prepare for her movie night with Jonathan. Thoughts of the other night wouldn’t leave her.

“Happy Halloween kiddos! Stay safe out there tonight” Maggie closes the door and places down the bowl of candy down beside the table. She wasn’t dressed up but she figured a pumpkin shirt would count. The extreme Halloween decor hanging and sitting outside made up for the lack of costume. “Hey, I thought you were setting up for movie night. Jonathan will be here in a couple of… What’s wrong?” Maggie quickly shifted conversation when she saw Y/n look distraught. “Sweetie? Is this about the Hollands?”

“Do you think I killed her?”

“What?”

“If I had stayed with her or if I convinced her to leave with me, would she have lived?”

“Y/n, don’t tell me…”

“Maggie, I could try to rewind all the way back and change things--”

“You’ll kill yourself”

“I’ve been practicing. I could--”

“It doesn’t mean you can go back an entire year and change it. Besides, I’ve told you several times that messing with one little thing in the past can change the entire future. You know better. You could create a black hole for all we know”

“I can’t stop thinking about it. The picture of Barb. Her being dragged, her scream. She must have been so scared. And her parents, they don’t know. How can I live with with this?” Y/n sobs into her hands. Maggie quickly sits at her side, wrapping her in an embrace.

“I’m sorry, Y/n. I wish I knew how to take away your pain” Y/n lifts her head, her eyes light with an idea.

“No but I think I do” At that moment, they hear the doorbell. Maggie beats her to it and opens it, prepared to greet more children with candy but instead finds Jonathan. She doesn’t say anything but invites him inside. Y/n quickly wipes her cheeks and approaches her friend.

“Hey” He starts.

“Hey” Y/n smiles.

“Um, so about our movie marathon--”

“Oh! I wanted to talk to you about that, too. Uh, I was thinking, instead of watching movies and eating candy, we could you know…”

“Go to Tina’s party?”

“Yeah! Well, unless you don’t want to. It’s totally fine. I just… sorta have a lot I wanna get off my mind. You know?”

“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing actually”

“Really? I thought you didn’t want to go”

“I didn't but then I thought, why not? It could be fun and now more that you wanna go. At least I’m not going alone”

“Awesome. Shall we go then?”

 

They sat together in the car ten minutes after arriving at Tina’s. They watched the teens roam around the front lawn of the house drinking, dancing, and making out with one another. Jonathan nor Y/n said a word to each other as they stared, almost shying away from the house. Y/n’s eyes widened and her face fell in disgust as a boy dressed as a Greek god stumbled out of the house and vomited on the grass. Y/n had to swallow to make sure her lunch would stay down. With luck, it didn’t and she tore away from the boy when Jonathan finally opened his door and got out.

“Jonathan?” She calls out, catching his attention before he could shut the door.

“It’s now or never” She unbuckles her seat belt before stepping out and following him to the front door. Y/n grabs onto his arm as they try to avoid bumping into anyone. But she grabs him even closer when they got inside and found themselves surrounded with bodies. The smell of alcohol and cigarette hit her nose quick, even more as they pushed past the sea of bodies.

“Nice costume” A voice spoke. The two look over to find a girl dressed one of members of the band Kiss. Y/n could tell she was more interested in sparking conversation with Jonathan and eased away from the two. She looks around once and quickly spots Steve dancing with Nancy-- whom looked to be enjoying herself a little too much chugging down cups of the punch, most likely alcohol. Steve lifted the glasses off his eyes and sent a greeting her way in which she returned. Without much thought, she began squeezing through to get to him.

“Hey, I love your Joel Goodson look. It’s like you didn’t even have to dress up” She commented.

“And I love your…”

“I didn’t really have a costume but I thought I’d be Stevie Nicks tonight”

“Looks like you didn’t need to put much effort into that either”

“I’m a natural. Where’s Nancy?”

“Uh, she’s right… shit” He took off after her, in the direction of the bowl. She watched from afar as Steve tried to rip the cup out of her hands but Nancy, in her drunken state, wouldn’t release it. Tensions grew until the contents in the cup spilled all over her white blouse. All eyes turned to them and they ‘ooh-ed’ in their direction. Nancy glares at Steve before leaving for the bathroom’s direction, leaving the two to talk behind closed doors. Y/n didn’t bother to follow and instead joined Jon to explain what happened with Steve and Nancy. She hops to find out if they were okay but that plan would soon be pointless when Y/n and Jonathan find Steve rushing out of the bathroom alone and marching out the front door. Y/n looks at Jonathan and motions for the bathroom door.

"Nancy" She says and begins to walk over until Jonathan holds her back.

"He’s probably been drinking as much as Nancy has. You should take care of him" He said.

"But-"

“He’s your best friend. Don't worry, I’ll make sure to get Nancy home safely” Y/n gave him a nod and made a B-line, following behind Steve's path. She sprints out searching for Steve before finding him down the road on the opposite side. She jogs over, calling out his name until he stops in front of his car. He does't turn around first, instead he stalls for a moment, wiping his hands over his face and finally turns around to face her.

“You’ve been drinking” She pants.

“I'm fine, you should go take care of Nancy He slurred a bit.

“What about you?”

“I can drive” He says, bending over and struggles to insert the key into the hole and unlocking it. As soon as he opens it just a gap, she pushes it closed.

“I’m not letting you take that risk. There’s kids still out and if you get caught by the police… you’re dad won’t let you live it down” She was right and he missed that about her. Sighing with defeat, he hands her the keys and walks to the other side.

As she drove down his street, she took one glance in his direction and learns just how fast asleep he was. She didn’t bother him for the rest of the ride until they arrived. She parks in his driveway and climb out. Steve walks up to his door fumbling for his keys as she prepares to say goodbye.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Night”

“Wait” He stops her. “How are you supposed to get home?”

“I can walk”

“I’m not letting you take that risk. Come on, you can stay the night” He finally unlocks his door.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”

“Why not?”

“Nancy would be upset wouldn’t she? Which by the way, what the hell happened? You just up and left without her”

“Nah, I don’t think Nancy would give a shit. And what happened doesn’t matter, none of it. It’s all bullshit anyways” He mumbles. “Look, I… I would just prefer that you don’t walk home alone and like you said, I can’t drive so, what can you do?” He shrugs. Y/n felt that he was irritated and that whatever happened at the party was really bothering him.

“Okay. I’ll stay with you”

“Good” He concluded, shoving the door open and holding it for her. They entered the house tip-toeing up the stairs to prevent waking his parents up. In his bedroom, Steve shuts the door and kicks off his shoes and jacket before plopping down at his desk. Leaning his elbows on the surface, he hides his face in his hands trying to rub away the alcohol.

“What are you doing?”

“Letting you take the bed?” He cranes his head around to look at her.

“But it’s your room”

“Yeah but you’re my guest. You’re not sleeping on the floor or my desk and certainly not in the living room”

“We can both sleep on the bed, it doesn’t have to be weird” She replies, twiddling her fingers and attempting to hide her nervous face to prove her point. Y/n watches as he stands and lays on the bed first. She follows his example, discarding her coat and taking it down with her when she lays down next to him. They lie side by side, their bodies stiff with their arms kept close to their sides and on top. Awkwardness was obvious in the air, whether he was sober or not. This was nothing like it used to be, they would be hip and hip, giggling in each other’s ears. Almost cuddling. Here they laid staring up at the ceiling, both realizing how awkward it was knowing the amount of girls he’s brought to this bed and how she’s the first that he doesn’t have sex with. He shakes his head, ridding of the thought and reaching over to switch off the light. 

All Steve can think about after the lights go off is Nancy. All Y/n can think about is how wrong this felt. How pissed would Nancy be if she found out? She can't let Nancy find this out, even if nothing is going on right now. Remorse was all she think about until sleep took her. 


	5. || All the Time in the World ||

Y/n’s eyes blinked open from the deep sleep. She was quick to remember the events of last night, the unfamiliar, yet familiar, room gave it away. She turns to her back and sits up before looking to the side where she finds Steve on his side, facing her. They were much closer than when they fell sleep but that didn’t matter. She rubs away the sleep from her eyes before standing up to stretch. Her eyes look at the clock and learns it was only six in the morning, giving her enough time to return home and get ready for the day. She briefly thought about waking Steve up but he looked calm and peaceful, something she didn’t want to take away from him. So she fixed her shoes on and quietly trekked down the stairs to retrieve some Tylenol and some water for when he wakes. He’ll know it was her doing, a way of saying goodbye. On her walk home, she couldn't help but feel peaceful as a shy smile played on her lips, butterflies exploded in her stomach. She stops in her tracks and uses her hand to cover her smile with embarrassment. But there was that slight guilt tripping her because of what she thought Nancy would think of her right now, giggling to herself for thinking about sleeping in the same bed with her boyfriend. That's when she realized, it wasn't guilt about Barb or her parents, it was guilt about getting in between Steve and Nancy. At least it was gone now thanks to Steve.

“You took Steve home last night?” Nancy’s sudden question had Y/n jump in her desk. “Sorry” She muttered as she took a seat next to her.

“No I--” For a second, she thought about denying it and coming up with an excuse but she couldn't bring herself to lie to Nancy. Y/n sighs and hopes her answer doesn't rub her the wrong way. “Yeah.  I did. But only because he was drunk and I didn't want him getting hurt. When he left, it looked like you guys had an argument”

“Yeah, we did. Pretty bad one. He thinks Jonathan is my new boyfriend. But I wasn't going to turn it around on him and say you're his new girlfriend or whatever. I think he tried making me mad about it but I'm actually grateful that you took him home. You're his best friend, he trusts you more than anyone. Even me"

"Don't say that" You shake your head, leaning over to rest your hand over hers in attempt to comfort her, "He still loves you. He'll get over you getting a little drunk last night. Trust me, I can tell he does" Nancy's face is adorned with concern as if it something big was on her mind. "What's wrong?"

"I only agreed to go to the party because I wanted to numb the guilt I have over Barb. We agreed to act like stupid teenagers and not care about anything for one night. But I ended up saying some things to him. Stupid, hurtful things and it was because I was too drunk. I... wish I could take it back" Although it was a statement, it sounded like a question she was asking herself.

"You've been trying to forget things about Barb, too?"  Y/n continues when Nancy nods her head "I thought I'd go to the party with Jonathan and drink until I forgot I ever even had these.. gifts but now I think the best remedy for guilt is spending time with someone you care about" Y/n tried not thinking about Steve but rather Maggie. Nancy's eyes move to meet Y/n's pleadingly.

"Can you talk to Steve? He'll listen to you. Tell him that I'm sorry. Maybe convince him that what I said isn't true and if he can forgive me" Y/n turns in her seat in her direction and places her other hand over Nancy's. She nods with a smile, helping reassure her. 

"I will"

 

Lunchtime came around and Y/n was on her search for Steve while she had the time. She tried searching for him in his previous classroom but he wasn't to be found there. She tried looking for him in the cafeteria with no success. She found his car but it was vacant. When she spotted Jonathan and Nancy talking, she almost pushed herself to walk up and ask them if they'd seen him but that would be a terrible idea. Instead, she took off in another direction to search for him. Until finally, she decided to try the one classroom she thought she wouldn't find him. The last place she would have searched and she found him dribbling basketballs by himself. He's panting, grunting with each step. Y/n hugs her lunch to her chest watching as Steve attempted to dunk the basketball only to fail. He retrieves the ball and throws it at the basket in a hot temper. Steve bends over, leaning on his knees as he tries catching his breath. 

"I may not be an athlete," Steve turns his head over to the familiar voice, his face turning into confusion when he sees the basketball floating in midair in front of Y/n, "But I'm pretty sure that's not how you play basketball" She smiles mischievously. Her hand is lifted up as if holding the ball in place. Then it hits him again, a reminder that she is no ordinary girl. 

"No, yeah, it's a new venting technique I just thought of. I call it it  _"your-girlfriend-is-cheating-on-you-and-your-relationship-was-fake-from-the-start"_ basketball. Just throw the ball at anything you can break. No points are required to win, cause you're a loser no matter what" Y/n drops her hand and the ball falls from the air, bouncing away from the two. 

"Well, first of all, that's too long of a name, and second, Nancy isn't cheating on you. She loves you as much as you love her and don't tell me that you don't. It's obvious. I'm your best friend and I know you better than anybody"

"Is that so? So then why hell is she having lunch with Jonathan? The same guy that took her home last night, the same guy who obviously has a crush on her and is trying to get in between Nancy and me"

"I took you home last night, I'm not trying to get in between you and Nancy. In fact, I'm trying to get you two back together which if you haven't realized, so is Jonathan. He isn't the type of guy to steal someones girlfriend. Are you kidding me? Yes, he has a crush on Nancy but he isn't the type to steal her and you know how I know? Because I have--" Her words hitched in her throat, her heart thumping in her chest as a warning. 

"Because why?" Steve asks. His hands move to the side of his hips, waiting for her answer. 

"I will tell you everything if you have lunch with me" Nervously, Y/n holds up her bag of lunch in front of him. She feels a sweat begin to drop down her forehead. She almost brought up her hand to rewind and change her words to prevent her from saying anything about her crush but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The duo leave the gym and walk to the bleachers outside the football field. Y/n can't push herself to say something to break the ice, she doesn't know when to stop walking down the row of bleachers until Steve stops her with his voice. Y/n stops and turns to sit on the bleacher. When he finds himself sitting closely next to her waiting for her to speak, she stands and climbs up the next row of bleachers. Steve is left shocked and confused yet follows her lead and plops himself next to her. Y/n protests and once again moves up a row, telling him he needed to stay a row below her. Why? Because she didn't want him looking her in the eye while she spills her secrets. 

Now, with minutes having past, Y/n and Steve sit in silence. The two looking down at the students practicing their football throws. Both of them holding a half eaten sandwich as they shared a coca-cola using straws. Steve was already down at the crust of his piece while Y/n had barely put in two bites. Her slow chewing and deep concentration in the eyes told Steve she was still thinking about what she was going to say. Steve tosses the crust back into the paper bag and takes out the desert provided in her lunch, a large, round chocolate-chip cookie inside a zip-lock bag. He doesn't hesitate and bites a large portion of it, suddenly snapping Y/n out of her thoughts.

"Hey! We're supposed to share that!" Y/n complains, reaching over to try and take it from his hand but he pulls away before she could steal it. 

"I know but you're not close to finishing your sandwich" He excused.

"Well then you could have waited for me to finish instead of hog the cookie!"

"You barely even ate your lunch. You're thinking more than you are eating and until you start talking, then I won't give you any dessert" He takes another bite before reaching over and sipping from the soda.

"Okay, it's just that... I don't know how to bring this up or how to tell you... It's not easy to talk about this with someone you really care about" Steve moves his eyes to look at her but hers are drifted away from his and focused on the ground. 

"Just tell me. It's not like I'm gonna laugh or anything"

"I guess. But you have to look away and you can't take off once I tell you"

"I promise" Steve brings his hand up and holds his pinkie out just for her to take and she does with a bit of shyness. They don't let go there, he holds onto her as she spills her guts telling him about the crush she had on him since middle school. To make it less awkward between them, she tells him that she's grown to accept that he belongs to Nancy and that it's okay because Nancy is someone she trusts. She trusts Nancy will take care of him, will make him happy, will love him for the rest of her life. By the time she's finished explaining, Steve lets go of her and leans over his knees, his eyes focused on the field in front of him. For a moment, she's worried, thinking he's weirded out by this until he talks about how this is Y/n's plan to bring them together. Y/n told him several times that Nancy was drinking too much last night and that whatever she said, he should know doesn't come from the heart but from the alcohol and the stress she holds on her shoulders about Barb. Y/n explains that all Nancy needs is to spend quality time with Steve so that she can numb away the guilt by being with someone she loves and it doesn't need to involve alcohol. 

 

The word around school the next day was that Jonathan and Nancy had taken off after lunch yesterday and weren't seen around today. Y/n couldn't dare face Steve if she wanted to as she knew she would look like nothing but an idiot. Jonathan was gone, along with Nancy, making him look like the exact opposite as to what she described. The whole day she avoided Steve at all costs, avoided the girls who teased her, telling her how sorry they felt for her. They called Jonathan a no-good cheating pig, Nancy a slut. But they were only words not directed to them face-to-face. 

Y/n sat on the dining table after school, her head hidden deep within her homework and books. She lifts her head up after spotting Maggie preparing to go out the front door. 

"Going out tonight?" Y/n asks. The older woman stops at the door, gathering her coat after saying goodbye to Dolly. 

"I sure am. It's BINGO night. I've gotta get there early if I wanna catch a good slate" She answers zipping her coat up.

"Mind if I come along?" Y/n asks, moving to stand up from her chair until Maggie stops her.

"No, no! You've got homework. I don't wanna distract you from your studies. You need your education. I'll try not to stay out too long, alright?" Maggie twists and opens the front door, letting in a gush of cool air.

"What are you talking about? I've got all the time in the world"

"I know but I don't want you abusing your gifts like that all the time. You know how risky it is"

"Yeah, yeah" Y/n playfully rolls her eyes, "So you're really gonna leave me all by myself... alone with Dolly?"

"I'll only be gone for a few hours. You should be asleep by the time I get back"

"Alright, fine. You win" Y/n gives in and stands to shut the door behind Maggie. "Get home safely"

"You know me" Maggie walks off to her car. Y/n picks up Dolly and uses her paw to wave goodbye to Maggie. Until she's backed out of the driveway and disappeared down the road, Y/n returns inside and continues with her homework. 

It's strange that in the morning, Maggie isn't up making breakfast. A small scent of liquor hits her nose and realizes there's half a full bottle sitting on the counter. Checking out the front door, Y/n learns that her car is parked in the driveway and decides to check her bedroom where she finds Maggie passed out in the bed. A pile of blankets are draped over her body, the dark room making it nearly impossible to see her. Y/n debates whether she should open the curtains until she decides against it. Maggie probably had a long night of drinking, was probably driven home and crashed in bed. Being the good adopted daughter she could be, Y/n leaves behind medicine and water by her nightstand. She returns to the kitchen where she prepares breakfast for Maggie before she wakes up. Around midday, and no sign of Maggie still, a knock at the front door catches Y/n off guard. Putting down her magazine, she stands from her spot and walks over to the door. Checking the peephole, she finds Steve standing outside her door and behind her is a familiar boy with a red, blue and white cap over his long curly hair. A microphone sticking out of his hat. With confusion over her face, she unlocks the door and look between the two males waiting for an explanation.

"Hey, Y/n," Steve starts nervously, briefly looking at Dustin, "Uh... we're gonna need your help" 


	6. || My Superhero ||

Y/n left behind a note telling Maggie she was going out for the day and would be back later. She sat in the passengers seat frozen and speechless after Dustin had explained the situation with his former pet 'Dart' who is a species from another dimension. Y/n would have laughed it off but when Dustin told her she can't believe him because of the unnatural power she possessed would make her a hypocrite. All the while quietly reminding her to prove her powers exist. So she sat quietly contemplating what this creature might be. Dustin claims it was first in the shape of a tadpole and now the size of a dog with a stomach hungry enough to eat his cat. He had been trying to contact all of his friends but after getting no answers from anyone, he resorted to seeking out the teenagers including Nancy, Steve and Y/n. His plan was to detain it and perhaps tame it. Steve tried asking if he didn't confuse it with a lizard and not some alien. Dustin was dead set on it being an alien. The drive to Dustin's took a few hours, she didn't realize how far she lived from most of the locals. After pulling up in front of Dustin's house, the three head to the trunk where Steve unloads a familiar bat with nails poking out. Dustin leads the two teens to the back of his house and shows the locked doors leading to his underground basement. Steve, with the bat and flashlight in hands, leans closely to listen in. 

"I don't hear shit" Steve says after a moment of silence. 

"He's in there" Dustin answers.

"You don't think it could have escaped?" Y/n asks and Dustin shrugs his shoulders. Steve begins to lightly hit the metallic doors and then bangs on it once. Still there was no sound of movement coming from inside. 

"Alright, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead" Steve turns to the boy, shining the flashlight into his eyes.

"It's not" Dustin answers.

"He's just a kid, Steve" Y/n chimes in.

"Exactly, which means this could be a prank"

"It's not a prank" Dustin says again, "Get it out of my face"

"You got a key for this thing?" Steve unlocks the doors, Y/n and Dustin walk up beside him to take a look around using the flashlight. Steve takes it from Dustin and inspects closer but there was nothing to look at. 

"He must be further down" Dustin speaks up, "I'll stay up here in case he tries to escape" Both teens look at him unbelievably before taking the first steps down the stairs. Once reaching the bottom, Y/n stays closely behind Steve keeping an eye out for their backs. Until she feels Steve stop, she walks around next to him and realizes why he stopped. With the end of the bat, Steve lifts up what looks to be discarded skin. It was thick and slimy, covered in patches of dirt.  Y/n looks disgusted at it before moving her eyes away to prevent herself from throwing up her lunch. That's when she spots something even more staggering. Steve calls Dustin down and shows him the skin before Y/n shows him the hole in the bricked wall in the corner of the room. 

 

The trio spent the rest of the day forming a plan. After finding out where the tunnel led to, they decided they would lure dart to the secluded junkyard using raw meat and trap him there. After buying packets of meat from the grocery store, they cut it up into chunks and filled them into buckets before leaving them cool in Dustin's fridge. Other supplies were gathered at Dustin's house such as backpacks, yellow cleaning gloves, a gas tank and a lighter. All except for the small revolver Y/n insisted on bringing. Steve brought her home to a surprisingly empty house. Y/n called out Maggie as she searched for the woman, expecting an answer. The medicine and water continued to sit on Maggie's nightstand untouched, including the breakfast she cooked that morning. It was worrying, even more when she found a note sitting on the kitchen table. It was written on the same paper she left for Maggie. "Stay safe," it read. Without a second thought, she tucks the note in her breast pocket before moving onto the garage. She found the weapon in its safe and returned to Steve who waited outside. 

Y/n insisted on staying home once sundown but Dustin allowed the two teens to sleep over at his house, saying it would be a waste of time tomorrow having to pick everyone up. The trio sat in the living room-- Dustin knocked out on the straw chair, his walkie in his hands after spending hours trying to contact his friends. Y/n laid on the sofa, on her side staring out into space. When she heard the front door open and shut, her mind is back down on earth. She pulls the soft blanket closer to her body, watching as Steve enters the living room. He takes one glance at the snoring Dustin and sighs before walking over to sit down in front of Y/n after leaving the bat to lay on the ground beside him. He rests his head back and she gets a whiff of his hair smelling strongly of the Farrah Fawcett hairspray mixed with his shampoo and cologne. She renders herself a creep for purposefully inhaling in the scent a few times before adjusting her head so that her nose wouldn't touch is hair directly. 

"You don't plan on sleeping?" She asks. 

"I will once you fall asleep... You know, in case I need to tell this pea-brain to snore somewhere else" Y/n casts a glance in the boy's direction, lightly giggling at the sight of him leaned back relaxed with his mouth hanging opened. 

"If I can sleep through your snoring, I can sleep through his"

"I don't snore. At least not anymore"

"Yes, keep telling yourself that" Falling quiet, Y/n's thoughts drift off to the situation itself and a question comes to mind. "So how did you and Dustin find each other?"

"I was on my way to Nancy's. Dustin was still looking for Mike and Nancy. He told me Nancy wasn't even home. I guess she and Jonathan really did run off together" At his words, Y/n's guilt brews in her stomach and her face falls with concern.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. I know I probably look like a total idiot but believe me when I say Jonathan isn't someone to just do that. I don't believe it for a second that he ran off with Nancy for his own pleasures. That includes Nancy. She was in distress about Barb the entire time. She's been trying to figure out a way to get rid of the guilt but I don't think she left with Jonathan to do that"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Y/n. I really don't know what to believe. I mean, I want to believe you but it's just... the timing is too convenient. I wanna believe Jonathan isn't the type of guy to stoop so low and take off with Nancy when he knows about what happened. I don't believe Jonathan is a bad guy but my love for Nancy can't help but think otherwise" Steve turns his face to look at her. Half his face is illuminated by the tall lamp standing beside the sofa. He can see a glint in her eyes despite it being for just a second "Thank you, Y/n. For sticking with my dumb-ass"

"I'm here, Steve" Y/n reaches down, Steve follows suit and they take each other's hands. With no more words, the duo fall into silence-- minus the snoring-- and fall asleep, connected at the hands for the rest of the night. 

 

The trio were up and out by ten after sitting around the dining table eating donuts. They drove and parked beside a deserted road where they decided they would hike the rest of the way to the junkyard. As they unloaded the supplies from the trunk, Dustin suddenly got a response back from one of his friends, Lucas. He kept it short, giving him a brief update on Dart and told him to meet him, Steve and Y/n at the junkyard. Much to Lucas' surprise. Walking down the tracks after an hour, Dustin goes into deeper explanation about why he kept Dart in the first place, all to impress a girl from his school. A girl who Lucas also sparked interest for. Y/n walked and listened to the males banter about the topic as she walked a few feet ahead of them, all the while dropping pieces of meat in the process. She couldn't help but smile to herself when Steve began giving the younger boy advice about liking a girl. She snorts and receives a brief scolding from Steve telling her not to tell anyone, though asking nicer than he did Dustin.

"Do you have any advice, Y/n? You know, cause you're a girl yourself, right?" Dustin asks her after having caught up to her speed, leaving Steve on his own in the back.

"I don't think I could have said it better myself" Y/n answers with slight confusion, letting a ball of meat fall at her feet. "Anything I tell is cheesy like, 'be yourself and she'll like you back.' I mean I think this girl is totally blind if she doesn't like your personality"

"I guess, but how do I know if she likes my personality?"

"I suppose if she keeps coming back for more. But if this girl isn't like what Steve says, then she's different"

"She's like Nancy then?"

"Yeah but... what's her name?"

"Max"

"Then she's different like Nancy, special like Nancy, but her name is Max"

"So she's like a clone of Nancy? But with red hair and freckles?"

"If that's what Max looks like, then yeah"

"Oh. I get it. So you must like Jonathan, right?"

"What?"

"Will is always talking about how you and Jonathan always hang out. Do you like him?"

"No. You've got it all wrong--"

"So he's a clone of someone special and different to you?"

"He... is special to me. And he's different but he most definitely isn't Jonathan's clone"

 

The old train tracks led the trio to the junkyard after going off the path and up the hills. With Steve impressed of the location after finally entering the proximity of the junkyard, they continued leading a trail of meat to the center of the yard. The three of them dump whatever was left in their buckets on the ground in the perfect spot when they hear a voice call out to them. 

"I said medium-well!" Turning to source of the voice, they spot two kids standing away from them. Lucas and a girl that looked like what Dustin described to be Max. Y/n couldn't help but smile at their new companions and looked to Dustin who didn't seem to share the same excitement. Once getting settled in, they began to work. Y/n introduces herself to Max and banter as they build a fort in the abandoned bus. Lucas and Dustin disappeared and Steve left to retrieve them. The five of them make progress nailing down a second wall around the bus using corrugated metal panels; anything they could find to help protect their fort. Steve creates a trail of gas starting from the pile of meat leading to the bus doors. They build a watch station above the bus using a ladder to climb and tires to help them keep cover. By the time the sun was already down, they group up in the bus and wait for night to fall. 

Y/n sat at the end of the bus, occasionally look outside to see whether she could spot Dart. However, the thick fog was making it difficult to see anything coming. Instead she sat there staring at the note she found the other night. She tried hiding it away when she saw Steve approach her. 

"Why is that I'm always finding you in deep thought?" Steve asks taking a seat in front of her, continuing to flick open the zippo in his hand. She carefully folds the paper and tucks in her breast pocket.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about Maggie. I didn't see her all day yesterday or today. I hope she isn't worried and goes out looking for me"

"Did she leave you a note?" She thought about playing dumb but decided otherwise. She takes out the paper from her pocket and shows him.

"It worries me. Maybe I'm overthinking it but I thought she came home the other night"

"Maybe she did come home and wasn't there when I brought you"

"But her car was parked in the front. Everything was in place, everything except the note was different"

"I promise I'll help you look for her after we're done here" He says handing the paper back to her, "I'm sure she's okay, she's a smart woman" In a moment of silence, all they do is stare at each other before Steve breaks the ice, clearing his throat, "Uh, listen. Anything can happen tonight, alright? You and me are the only ones who can actually fight this... monster. If we can prevent those kids from getting hurt, we do that. If I can prevent you from getting hurt, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen"

"Steve, I can and will use my powers if need be. Whatever it takes to keep you and the kids safe"

"No, see that's how I need to keep you from getting hurt. The last time you used it drastically... I thought you were dead. I can't have you dying, not while I can stop it. Just use it as a last resort, okay?"

"Don't worry about me. Just focus on burning that monster to the ground" At that, a loud roaring echoed in the distance. Y/n, Steve and Dustin were quickly on their feet and peeking out the window of the bus but once again, the fog makes it impossible to see anything. Dustin calls out to Lucas who tells him was still looking until finally, spots something moving outside. He points out a certain direction and the three look to find something moving in the fog. They observe Dart carefully, waiting for him to reach closer to the pile of meat in order for Steve to light the trail of gas. However, they learn Dart isn't getting any closer as if he's become uninterested in the food. Steve backs away and walks to the front of the bus gathering the bat. Both Dustin and Y/n call his name, asking him what he planned to do but something in them knew exactly what he had in mind and Y/n did not like it. 

"Steve, no, wait" Y/n begins to protest, "There has to be another way. Maybe we can attract them with sounds"

"We can't do that, not unless we want him to attack the bus. I just told you--"

"I know, I know! But you can't go out there on your own" Steve turns around, shoving the lighter into her hands by force.

"Just be ready"

Y/n and Dustin watch from inside with anticipation. Y/n gripped the lighter too tightly that Dustin had to take it from her hands. She doesn't even bother to answer Max when she had climbed down the ladder. All she knew what that she had to be ready to hop out of the bus in case Steve was in danger. When Lucas warns Steve of another predator, Y/n looks to find another one of the monsters. Her heart leaps in her chest and moves to pull open the door when Dustin quickly grips her hand. 

"No, you can't go out there, they'll kill you, too" Dustin protests. Y/n doesn't answer and looks back at the scene in front of her. As another monster reveals itself, Dustin quickly pushes the door open and yells for Steve to abort. The very second all the creatures run at Steve, Y/n suddenly lifts her hand and everything around stops. All except for the three kids. Quickly, they all go into a frenzy, especially Max. 

"Oh my God! You control time! That's your power! Awesome!!" Dustin yells at the top of his lungs, loud enough to cover Max's questions. Lucas joins them inside and the three begin throwing questions at her, pointing out that Steve is standing completely still and a few of the Demogorgans are frozen in mid-air jumping at Steve. 

"All of you shut up and wait here!" Y/n demands from them before taking the first step out the bus. The three kids whisper-yell among themselves as they witness Y/n use her powers. They're amazed time all around is stopped but time around her and wherever she walks continues, almost like making a path. Y/n feels blood spill from her nose by the time she reaches Steve, who soon realizes what's going on. While he's amazed, he grows worried for his friend who looked to be growing rapidly weak. 

"Y/n--"

"You said use it at a last resort, well look around you Steve. We need to get back to the bus" He does as she asks and he sees the monsters running at him stopped in their paths. "I don't know how much longer I can hold it" Y/n groans in pain as veins in her temple grow visible through her skin and her pupils expanding inhumanly. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's do this" Steve says and in the blink of an eye, Y/n releases time and the baby Demogorgans return in motion. Steve jumps out of the way and Y/n dodges another Demogorgan. The two can hear the kids shouting at them, telling them to hurry up. Quickly, they waste no time getting back on their feet and run towards the door of the bus. Steve grabs Y/n's arm first and pushes her inside and he follows after her. Steve uses a panel to block the door but when they feel the bus jolt, they realize the Demogorgans were climbing on top. Y/n's heart jumps in her chest when she feels a sharp clawed hand grip tightly on her ankle but Steve is quick to save her, using the bat to smash the creature's hand.

Max screeches and Steve runs to her rescue, pushing her away from the hatch door. Y/n joins the kids in the back of the bus, letting Max clutch onto her for dear life. All four of them watch as Steve threatens the monster before it roars in his face. Just when Y/n thought of jumping in to save them, the Demogorgan quiets down, growls into the sky and takes off. Slowly releasing the young girl, Y/n and the rest stand in silence trying to figure out what had just happened and why it sounded like all of the Demogorgans suddenly decided to let them live. But in her mind, she didn't care to know why, just that they were alive. Her eyes meet Steve's, both wearing a look of terror.

"You okay?" Steve asks, resting his hand on her shoulder. Y/n nods in confirmation, "You're bleeding" With realization, Y/n's hand quickly dabs the skin underneath her nose and feels warm blood drip. 

"I'm okay" She uses her jacket's sleeve to wipe the blood away with embarrassment. The group quietly make their way up the bus and open the broken door with Steve being the first to lead them out. They witness the last few Demogorgans run off but something told Y/n they weren't running away because they were scared. 

"What happened?" asks Lucas.

"I don't know" Max answers.

"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin asks. 

"No, that can't be it" Y/n replies, the four looking to Steve. 

"They're going somewhere"

 

The group traveled along the train tracks in the dark, listening to Dustin confirm that the Demogorgan they first saw was indeed Dart-- having a distinct mark on it's body. Before, the three kids bombarded Y/n with questions, asking her to show them her power again. Dustin being the science boy, he had the most questions to ask her. Max was simply straight out confused yet amazed. She questioned how anybody on Earth even possess time traveling powers. But seeing as though they were on the hunt for an extra-dimensional creature. Steve cut the interrogation short and shut them up, forcing them to keep Y/n's gifts a secret. They crossed their hearts and sealed their lips, bring up how they were still keeping Eleven's identity a secret. This quickly led them into a heated argument about who broke the rule of law in their party-- Dustin's secret-keeping and Lucas's secret-spilling involving Max. While Y/n tried breaking up the fight, Steve didn't care and minded his business before calling them out. He brought their attention to a sound coming from the forest before taking off, Max left behind wondering why they would head in the direction of the sounds. Coming to a stop at the top of the hill, they use their flashlights to search for the source of whatever was making those roars but nothing could be seen from their stance. Using his binoculars, Lucas identifies the sounds coming directly from the Hawkins lab, before realizing then that the Demogorgans were going home. 

"Hello?" A voice calls out in their direction. Y/n's ears perk up, the voice sounding all too familiar. 

"I know that voice" Y/n releases Steve's shoulder and walks ahead of the group to reach the bottom of the hill. Steve's hand holds her back as he rhetorically asks her what she was doing. She tells him that she recognized the voice and wanted to check for herself if it was who she thought it was. Steve nods and tells her to stay behind him as they finish reaching the bottom. They see a car and two people standing in front of it. 

"Steve?!" Both Nancy and Jonathan say in unison. 

"Nancy?"

"Jonathan?" Steve and Y/n clarify together. 

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asks Steve, both groups walking towards each other.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asks back.

"We're looking for Mike and Will"

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asks her.

"We're not sure"

"Why?" asks Jonathan just as another screech echoes from the laboratory. All heads turn to look at the large building, the lights look to have shut off yet a light was barely glowing through the windows. The whole group begins to discuss in a circle, trying to figure out what might have happened to Jonathan's brother and Nancy's brother. All the while Y/n stood quiet in the back as she pieces together the thought that perhaps Maggie was taken to the laboratory for whatever reason and left her a note saying to be safe. A look of concern adorns her face and worry floods her stomach. 

"The power is back" Nancy announces, grabbing everyone's attention. Everyone sprints back to the car where Jonathan and Dustin attempt to open the gate but they struggle with the button. From the corner of Steve's eyes, he catches Y/n's hands shake with anticipation. 

"Y/n?" He calls, "Something wrong?" He reaches out his hand in an attempt to calm her.

"It's just that... What if Maggie never came home because she was taken here? If those things are here and she is too, I have to make sure she's alright"

 

Maggie stood in the main lobby with Joyce listening in on the conversation between Dr. Owens and Bob Newby. Joyce bounced between both feet with impatience as she watched the door leading to the lab waiting for Bob to walk through. From their understanding, Bob was very close but so were the creatures. If Maggie could, she would go and help Bob but Hopper was set on keeping her alive as much as he was set on making sure Will would get the help he needed. And Maggie was only source of that right now. Bob made it through the doors, much to Joyce's relief until a single monster jumped at him and attacked him. Joyce cried out for her lover and pulls against Hopper. Maggie follows behind Hopper and shuts the door tightly, watching as Joyce sobbed in his arms, refusing to believe he was really dead. A blaring horn pulls their attention away from the mess and see Jonathan call out to them from his car. Y/n's eye spots Maggie farthest away and can't stop herself from climbing out the car, Steve behind her trying to pull her back. 

"Y/n? What are you--" Maggie tries to ask but the sound of breaking glass cuts her off. 

"No!!" Hopper shouts in protest, watching as Maggie turns around and finds one of the creatures jumping at her. But it all happens to quickly. Y/n watches as Maggie tumbles to the ground and the Demogorgan bites into her neck. As if it was an instinct, Y/n goes to raise her hand, yelling in sheer horror and tears running town her cheeks but Steve catches her on time. His arm wraps around her waist, his other hand reaches for her hand and closes it with his own bigger one before carrying her away. Mike had already gotten Will into the back of Jonathan's car before Hopper drags Joyce in as well. He calls for Steve to follow him and the three, Steve carrying Y/n, race to Hopper's car. Carelessly pulling out of the parking lot, Hopper follows behind Jonathan's car and stops to pick up the three waiting kids. 

Everyone falls quiet, all except for the three chattering kids. Hopper head is running at a hundred miles, thinking about what they were going to do about Will, the monsters, Joyce and Y/n. Without Maggie's expertise, he felt they were now lost. But he knew they had to figure something out, for Maggie and for Bob. 

 

Y/n stood leaning over the bathroom sink crying. Over and over again she splashed water in her face to calm her tears. But she couldn't help it, her chest hurt with grief. Her head hurt of a migraine. She couldn't believe Maggie was gone, the image of Maggie being killed replayed in her head while she tried getting rid of it. It felt like swallowing a gigantic pill she needed to accept. She hated herself for not rewinding then and there. The moment they arrived at Will's house, Y/n rushed to the bathroom. Steve tried calling her name and few times, he knocked on the door waiting for a response until he left. The thought of being on her own scared her. She didn't know what would happen to her, where she would be sent to. It felt like being forced to grow up and forget your childhood. She couldn't help but feel alone, and that brought more tears to her eyes. She could hear the banter going on outside the bathroom but she didn't feel like showing herself yet. She wanted to be alone and cry but she didn't know how long that would take. 

A knock on the door brings out of her thoughts. She expects to hear Steve's voice but instead, it's Hopper.

"Hey, uh, kid. I know you want to be alone right now, I'm sorry you had to witness that at the lab. I know how you feel, it's never easy to lose someone you love. But listen to me, we're going to find out whatever those things came from and we're going to kill them. We are. We can't let Maggie and Bob, everyone affected by this die without purpose. They have to be honored and the only way we can do that is if we fight against the... Mind Flayer. So, I get it if you just want grief on your own but I'm just letting you know, you can't do something about the problem if you isolate yourself. Yeah, so, uh, we'll be out here with you when you're ready to come out" Hopper waits for a moment, expecting a response but when he doesn't get one, he makes a B-line for the back door and joins everyone in the shed where they begin to cover up the walls with anything they could find. Although they stop when the door creaks open. All eyes turn to the door and watch as Y/n steps in, her face puffy but cleaned of any emotions. She walks towards them and gives them a nod, signaling them that she's alright and ready to participate.

Once every wall of the shed is covered up, Jonathan retrieves a knocked-out Will from the house and brings him inside. Setting him down on a covered up chair against a pole, Jonathan ties the young boy around, including his hands and legs. They set up a large light flashing in on the unconscious boy. Y/n, Steve, Nancy and the three other kids leave the shed for the others to stay with Will. Nancy and the kids gave her a quick rundown of the plan-- tie up Will and try using real memories in attempt to bring Will out of control under the Mind Flayer. Which, in Dustin's explanation, an ancient being from another dimension. A dimension called "The Upside Down," the place where Will had disappeared into. It was so confusing and felt like a made-up story more than it actually was.  

The group sat in the house quietly-- Dustin watching the shed through the kitchen window, Nancy leaning against the wall in worry, Max and Lucas sitting together in the hall and Y/n and Steve sitting in the living room. Steve stood in the center practicing as he swung the baseball bat and Y/n sitting on the couch inspecting Maggie's note, thinking of the woman herself. Steve stops and walks over his friend, setting the bat down between his legs.

"Sorry about what happened to Maggie. I know you wanted to use your powers and save her but it's just... if those things got even a foot close to you, I-we would've lost you, too. And if that did happen, I wouldn't... know what to do or... how to live knowing you were dead. You're my best friend, I told you I would do anything to protect you" Steve looks over his shoulder to look at her and learns she was already looking at him. "The truth is, and I think I just realized this, but... I'm scared to lose you, again"

"Thank you, Steve. For being with me" Y/n answers. Moments later, Hopper comes rushing through door with a piece of paper and pen before starting to write down on it, saying that Will wasn't speaking with words. The symbols he wrote quickly grew familiar to Y/n and everyone else except for Steve. She was sure it was morse-code but she didn't know how to read it. Under the symbols, Hopper easily translates it as "HERE." Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan and Mike return to Will and continue talking to him all the while Hopper sends Y/n's group more and more codes to decipher. In the end, Will's message came out as "CLOSE GATE," leaving the group to question what that meant when the phone suddenly began to ring. Dustin curses as he picks it up and hangs up only for it ring again. To everyone's surprise, Nancy is the one to tear it off the wall and toss it to the ground. They briefly wonder if Will was able to hear it before the familiar sound of roaring echoes in the distance, indicating that the Demogorgans knew their location. 

The group in the shed rush into the house with Will in Jonathan's arms. Hopper gathers the rifles they have and hands one off to Nancy. Y/n stands closely behind Steve, her palm out ready to use her powers if she needed to. The air seems to thicken as they continue to hear the growling and snarling coming closer but they can't decide in which direction. They didn't expect to hear thuds crashing outside as if they themselves were being attacked. Going back and forth between one window and another, they all jump when one of the monsters crash-land in through the living room window. And they're shocked to see that it was knocked out. A rattle coming from the front door bring their attention back to the situation just as the monster noises have settled down. Everyone watches the door with anticipation as one by one, the locks come off by themselves. It slowly creaks open and a familiar telepathic girl reveals herself. 

Eleven strides in, the blood leaking from her nose tells everyone she had helped get rid of the Demogorgans. Mike soon learns that Chief Hopper had been keeping her location a secret and that it was only for her own good. The two of them left to speak in private while Eleven went to hug Lucas and Dustin. Max tried introducing herself but Eleven pushed past the redhead girl and went directly to Y/n for a hug. She was amazed to see Eleven again, although her punk appearance was more of a shock than her return. "Bitchin," she told her. Eleven then found Joyce and asked to see Will, who was left in his room alone before returning along with Mike and Hopper. Surrounding the kitchen table, the group began to discuss the plan about closing this gate located beneath the laboratory. A gate Eleven opened last year mush to her dismay. It's what caused the tear into this alternate dimension called "the Upside Down." Nancy described it as a copy of Hawkins except it was deserted and overgrown with whatever this creature was. Y/n wondered if her powers would work just the same in this place. 

The idea was to have Eleven close the gate in hopes of killing off all of the mind flayer's army, but Mike brought up a point. He worried if closing the tear would wind up killing Will in the process, something no one wanted. Joyce shows us to the bedroom Will is passed out in and explains she keeps giving the mind flayer what it wanted. One of those things was keeping the room in a cold place. If it didn't like the cold, burning it out of him was the only option. Except this time at a location the mind flayer wouldn't know. Hopper has an idea and carries Will's body to Jonathan's car as he gives directions to a location to send Jonathan and Joyce. Steve and Nancy gather up as many heaters as they could find and load them into the car for them to use. All the while, Eleven and Hopper would take off to the lab and take care of the gate. Steve, Y/n, and the kids will stay behind at the house and wait for all this blow over. Together standing on the porch, they watch both groups take off down the road. 

Retrieving back into the house, Dustin quickly gets to ordering Steve to pick up the Demogorgan Eleven had killed and carry it into the kitchen. Y/n watches as she picks up the items Dustin had cleared out from the fridge and tossed on the floor. He turns and tells Steve to try again and place it inside the fridge. 

"Alright, it should fit now" Dustin tells him, pointing back at the cooler. Steve stares with confusion at the boy, in his arms is the deceased Demogorgan wrapped around a blanket.

"Is this really necessary?" asks Steve. 

"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury is like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog" Dustin argues back with the teen.

"Alright, alright," Steve gives in walking over to the fridge, "But you're explaining this to Ms. Byers, alright? Christ" He mutters out after hauling the creature through the door. "Help me out?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Get the door, man" They finish struggling to fit it inside without having it fall out. Y/n kindly hands Steve a towel to clean his hands of any slime before joining the rest in the living room where Mike and Lucas were shouting at each other, arguing about how worried Mike was for Eleven returning to the lab. Dustin yells correcting Mike after calling the Demogorgans dogs. Lucas was trying to reassure Mike that Hopper was going to do all he could to take care of her. Steve chimes in and everyone's face twists in confusion when he talks as if they were in some sports game, annoying Mike even further. 

"And second, we're not even in the game, we're on the bench" Mike says matter of factly. 

"R-right, so my point is..." Steve stammers, pausing to come up with a reply. Everyone watches him awaiting a response, "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do" Steve swings the towel over his shoulder.

"That's not entirely true," Dustin speaks up, "I mean, these Demo-dogs have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away"

"So if we get their attention..." Lucas trails off.

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab" Max says.

"And clear a path to the gate" Mike concludes.

"Yeah, and then we all die" Steve says out loud.

"Well, that's one point of view"

"No, that's not a point of view. That's a fact" Mike pushes past between the two boys and finds to point at a part of the drawings on the wall. He quickly begins to explain that that section was the exact location where Hopper had dug a hole to get into the tunnels. He walks over to another larger section and plans out an idea to burn it. Soon, Dustin, Max, and Lucas catch up more and more onto his idea-- burn that area and attract the Demogorgans and get away before they can catch them using Hopper's tunnel. Y/n listens on both their planning and Steve's protesting but she can't decide who to agree with. 

"Right, Y/n?" Steve looks to her, expecting a straight answer but she slightly hesitates, "C'mon, Y/n, not you too"

"I didn't say anything!" Y/n argues back.

"So then you're with us, Y/n?" Mike pleads. She looks to him and stutters before Dustin cuts her off completely.

"Say yes, Y/n! Please, your time travel powers can help us" Y/n goes to shut him up before Mike beats her to it.

"You have time travel powers?!" Suddenly, the kids jump into chatter and explain how Y/n had used her powers to save Steve. The two teens try to cut it short when they all freeze at the sound of a revving vehicle. Max is the first one there and peeks out the window, soon followed by the others.

"It's my brother" Max says, "He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us" She backs away from the window, staring worriedly at Lucas. Y/n looks over at Steve and he at her before he orders the kids to stay inside with Y/n and to not make a single sound. He would evade Billy away from the house as much as he could. Y/n watches him exit the house with a concerned look and continues to watch him outside the house peeking her head through the door's window and perking her ears up to listen in on the conversation. Steve and Billy approach each other, staring closely at each other dangerously. She can hardly hear them but when Billy points something out behind Steve and he looks back to check it out, Y/n looks over at the kids and sees the kids scuffling to duck behind the couch away from the window. Y/n looks back, rolling her eyes when Dustin asks if Billy had seen them, and sees Billy shove Steve to the ground and sends him a kick to his stomach. Y/n's heart clenches with anger but fear at the same time as she sees Billy begin to approach the house with deep strides. Quickly locking the door, she backs away and shouts at the kids.

"Get behind me!" They do as she orders them to and feels as a pair of hands clutch to her jacket. They all watch the door quietly before it bursts open, Billy walks through and slams the door behind him.

"Well, well, well" He says.

"Go away, Billy. I don't wanna hurt you" Y/n answers him with slight fear in her voice.

"Y/n Olsen. I've heard lots of things about you. Like your goody-two-shoe reputation. The teacher's pet. Yeah but outside of school, I hear you pine over boys like Steve Harrington, or that Byers creep" His eyes shift from her to someone behind her and she can't tell whether it's Max or either of the boys. "Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise" His step grows closer and closer to her, too close for her comfort but she knew she couldn't back down now. Y/n needs to protect these kids with her life. "I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max"

"Billy, go away" Max speaks out quietly.

"You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me" Billy says almost over Y/n's shoulder. She could feel Billy's breath blow in her neck, sending chills down her back. 

"I won't let you do anything to her" Y/n almost growls in his face. She lifts her head up high in attempt to match his superiority but it clearly means nothing to Billy. 

"I break things" Billy brutally shoves Y/n out of the way with one hand, surprising the others as he grabs a hold of Lucas by the collar of his coat and shoves him against the wall. Y/n can hear the ruckus and quickly tries recovering the breath knocked out of her lungs. She begins to pull herself up using the wall and spots Billy's harassment towards Lucas. Anger boils in her blood and runs at him, prepared to use her powers when Max pleads her not to hurt him. Instead, Y/n grabs Billy by his arm and tries pulling him away but with even more brute force, he knocks her off, elbowing her in the face. Y/n falls to the ground, her eyesight blurring away when she tries forcing herself to wake up. She can barely lift herself up without having to feel a pounding headache. She hears even more shouting and soon sees the blurry faces of the kids as they hover over her, asking her if she's okay but she can't respond normally. She can faintly hear them cheering on Steve and if Y/n had to wonder why, it was because he was in a fight with Billy-- but all she could picture was them having an arm wrestle as they smoked on some cigars. She hears glass break and feels the kids struggling to drag her away from the fight. All went black before she could recover from the blow. 

 

Hopper and Eleven walk closer and closer to the entrance of the lab. As Eleven snaps out of the memory she had of the lab, she finds Hopper looking over a bloody mess. Walking over, she sees the cold and bloodied face of Magdalene Olson Richards. She remembers her face clearly back when Kali was showing her the board of targets they had to kill for causing them wounds. Eleven had to avoid her completely when she remembered Magdalene had helped her and Mike at the school when Papa went after her.

"Magdalene Olson Richards" Eleven says, Hopper looks over at her, surprised that she even knew this until he realized.

"That's right. She was Y/n's caregiver, she never really adopted her. At least not legally. You actually remember her?" He asks her. 

"Yes. She worked with Papa, she was bad" Hopper's gaze goes from her and back to the body.

"Yeah but... she was trying to..." He pauses, trying to find a word he knew she would understand clearly without him having to explain it, "Do good by helping us. She wasn't all that bad"

"I know. You should close her eyes, look like she's sleeping"

"Yeah..." And he does, reaching over to carefully close her eyes. He makes a final mental note to bring her and Bob's body back. It was the least he could do. "Let's go"

 

 Y/n slowly drifts awake when feeling her body jolt left and right and the sound of shouting echoed in her ears. Her head continued to pound, just as much as her right eye. She tried moving her hand to rub it when a hand moved it away and it was replaced with something cool. 

"Mike, I told you! Keep the ice on her eye to prevent swelling!" She hears Dustin.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" Mike answers with the same aggravation. 

"W-what's going on? Where are we going?" Y/n asks when she hears the sound of an engine revving. She looks around and finds herself surrounded the kids and a beat up Steve trying to keep calm. She fully wakes up when the car comes to an abrupt stop, her body nearly jumping forward to hit the seat in front of her if it wasn't for a pair of arms holding her back. The kids proceed to file out of the car, followed by Steve stumbling out and soon Y/n, who crawls her way out. Standing straight, she examines her surroundings and learns they stopped at a field. "Where are we?" She asks, but no one is answering her, just like no one is answering Steve. 

"Steve, you're upset, I get it," Dustin says after Steve's multiple attempts to stop the kids from proceeding with their plan, "But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So, keep us safe" Dustin orders him, handing the backpack over to him.

"Steve, he's right" Y/n chimes in, both boys looking over at her, "I know this plan is risky but so are the other's groups. I mean, we're saving the world if you think about it... like superheroes" It didn't take much convincing after that as Steve and Y/n prepare themselves. Y/n uses a pair of goggles, a shirt to wrap around her face and a pair of gloves. They follow the kids down the hole and look around their surroundings. Y/n couldn't tell whether whatever was flying around in the air was dust, snow or perhaps ashes. But it was neither cold or hot, so she went with white dust. She snaps out of her thoughts when Steve jumps in to take the lead. Y/n can't help but smile to herself, she's thankful the shirt hides her giddiness. Along the way, Dustin gives them a brief scare when he shouts for help, saying that something had gotten into his mouth. Everyone hurries over to check on him, worried he might die only to find out it was a fluke. Following some more twists and turns after what felt as though they had just gone in a circle, they come up to a large open area. The location Mike was looking for and what he referred to as "hub." 

"Drench it" Mike ordered. The group got to work, throwing and scattering all the gas they had brought onto the ground, walls and even the ceiling. By the end of it, they gathered at the original tunnel and huddled, waited for Steve to whip out the lighter and light the gad on fire. As soon as the hub bursted into flames, the group took off down the tunnel to the hole. With Steve taking the lead, Y/n made sure take the back to make sure none of the kids lagged behind. When Mike went tumbling down, his friends quickly went back for him and tried yanking the vine away from his ankle. Steve runs in with the bat and smashes the vine but with each hit, the vine instantly grows back. Y/n pulls him away and pointing her hand towards the vine, she focuses and deteriorates the vine to nothing. Helping Mike to his feet, they turn to proceed down the tunnel when they come face to face with a Demogorgan. Dustin freezes and stares directly at it, calling out it's name, "Dart."

Slowly approaching the creature, the group behind him yell at him to stay back, trying to keep their voices low as to not alert the Demogorgan. Dustin quickly reconnects with him, feeding him a candy bar and apologizing to him for locking him in the cellar. Discreetly, Dustin motions for the group to walk by quickly and quietly and manage to without a problem. Y/n continues to follow behind the whole group as they proceed and loses her balance when they feel the ground begin to tremble, a low rumbling sound coming from the walls. Quickly, recovering from the fall, they stop to question what that was before hearing the sounds of roars coming from the direction behind them. They take off running again and soon spot the rope hanging from the ceiling. Steve gets to work and first lifts Max up, then Lucas, Mike and Y/n helps lift Dustin up. The switch their attention to the horde Demogorgans racing their way. Steve pulls Y/n arm but she doesn't budge.

"Y/n! Come on, they're coming! I've gotta get you out of here!" Steve shouts with what sounded like panic. Y/n takes his hand and faces forward, removing the cloth from her face, she responds. 

"Steve, just wait! We're okay" Y/n takes his hand and stands bravely facing the horde. Steve looks at her like she's crazy but then he remembers her special talent and confides in her. While Y/n's body language says she's standing her ground, her face says she's scared shitless and so is Steve as he continues to hold her hand tightly for dear life, he holds his arm over his head in fear and awaits for the Demogorgans to reach them, only they learn the Demogorgans have ran straight past them. Steve looks to Y/n as she finally returns to breathing and a bit of blood spills from her nose. Letting Steve know she had probably gone forward and back to see the outcome of it. Y/n meets his gaze as he looks at her with amazement. As the Demogorgans continue to race down the tunnel, Steve and Y/n finally escape through the hole to join the kids. From above, they watch as the Demogorgans don't stop, behind them, the car's headlights catch their attention as it seems to glow brighter and brighter. Looking back, they find to see the hole had disappeared. Not even Dustin drilling the ground with the end of his foot could he find the Upside Down. With that, they learn Eleven had succeeded. 

Y/n sat on the ground, leaning back against the car. Relief washed over her, along with glee. Her vengeance for Maggie was accomplished and she believed she could finally rest peacefully. Not only her, but Barbra as well. Tears welled up in her eyes and in attempt to get rid of them, she looks up towards the sky and wipes her hand over them when Steve came over to join her. The kids ranting on about how crazy of an night it has been. 

"You look like a mess" Steve comments, sitting down beside her, removing all the equipment he had on. Y/n looks over and meets his gaze and smiles. 

"You look like a mess" She says matter of factly. Referring to the bumps and bruises adorning his face. She only had a black eye. 

"We both look like a mess" Without a word, Y/n reaches her hand over and hovers it over his face. Steve couldn't tell what she was doing but he felt his face ache for a second before disappearing completely. All the while, he watched as the bruise under her eye slowly faded away and her skin was perfectly fine. He laughs to himself when he realizes what she had done. "My best friend is a superhero"


	7. || Hopper ||

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +Bonus Chapter+

Y/n blinks when she feels her eyes dry after having stared at the new grave by her heels. Her hands were tucked inside her black formal coat where her nails scratched at her finger while the other twiddled with the ring she held in her pocket. The same ring that belonged to Maggie. She had lost track of time being here for both Barbara and Maggie's funerals. She was probably the only one left now. Her thought was proved false when she heard footsteps approach her. Someone else was coming to give her their condolences, no doubt. She sniffed and cleaned her face turning her head to the new person. Except it wasn't someone she was expecting. Chief Hopper stopped at her side, bending down to place a white rose on top of Maggie's grave. They shared a brief silence until Hopper decided to break the ice.

"I'm really sorry, kid. Truly. Losing the only person you had to count on, it's not the best feeling in the world" He spoke with such gruffness to his voice. "Listen, I know I'm the last person you care to see and I don't blame you, I'm not the greatest at comforting someone all the time but... there's some things Maggie wanted you to know in case she didn't make it. As you probably know, Maggie was once a doctor working for the laboratory. She was involved in the MKUltra experiments that started about thirty years ago. And so was your mother, a subject to be exact. That's how you got your powers" Y/n turns her head to look at the older man with bewilderment, "You were put in Maggie's care the same night you were born, [mm] [dd], nineteen-sixty-six. It was also the same date your mother died, she drove off a bridge with a silicone baby to make sure you weren't hunted down by Doctor Brenner, who also happens to be your uncle. Meanwhile, your father left you on the porch of Maggie's home. The same home you were raised in. Can't imagine what it must be like to have to drop your own child off at someone's house. But he didn't this to get rid of you or because he hated you, he did it to protect you. But anyways, their bodies were buried here, if you want, I'd be happy to take you to them"

Hopper wasn't lying. There in front of them laid two graves placed side by side.  _Robert N. Brenner_ and _Bellamy Harper._

"How did Robert die?" Y/n asks Hopper after a moment of silence.

"The paper says he died of suicide after your mother. But that's what it was made to look like. You weren't a mistake, you were planned except they didn't expect you to be girl so on your birth certificate, it was signed as Toby Harper" Y/n couldn't help laughing to herself. "And Maggie couldn't go and get it changed without having the hospital find out you were alive so she altered a fake one and gave you Y/n Olson, however she never properly adopted you, meaning just about everything about you was fake. So, I thought I'd go out and get you some legitimate papers" Reaching for something in his pocket, he takes it and hands an envelopes to her. With slight hesitance, she takes them and opens the first one. At the top of the paper, it read  **Birth C **ertificate****. Further below that, she spots her name,  _Y/n Hopper._ She stops and stares at it as realization hits her like a ton of bricks. She looks over at Hopper, trying ti spot any indication that this is a joke, a cruel one at that. But there is none. He only continues to stare at the graves. "Of course, that's only if you want them. I could burn them and drop you off at the orphanage in Chicago, it's up to you" Emotion got the best of her and she throws herself at him, trying into his jacket. 

"Even if it's for a couple months... I mean... I turn eighteen in like--" Y/n's voice cracks.

"That doesn't matter. You deserve a family. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to live a life where you don't have to worry about who you are. Where you don't have to worry about being found and taken to become a subject. You deserve to live a normal life" Y/n pulls away, while one hand stays around his waist, the other comes up to wipe away the tears. 

"My life will never be normal, not with this power. But being around people I love, it's enough to live out a happy life"

 

"For the hundredth time, El-- I mean, Jane" Y/n corrects herself as she stares back at the young girl in Hopper's car. "Don't touch your face or you'll rub your make-up off"

"Sorry, I'm just nervous"

"Come on!" Hopper intrudes, tossing his cigarette out the window and stepping out, "We're already here and we're not turning back. So get your butt in that dance party and blow Mike's mind away" Y/n and Hopper see the young girl off at the entrance. When she looks back for the second time, both send her thumbs up and smiles to reassure her before disappearing behind the doors. "Why don't you go have some fun? You might see Jonathan or that Nancy girl or... what was his name?"

"Steve?"

"Yeah, that boy. You like him don't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Mm, I don't know" He shrugs his shoulders.

"Exactly. What about you? There's Joyce over there," She points in her direction, "Why not go give her some company?" Hopper's face twists into hesitance until Y/n urges him on further and pushes him to go say hi to her. Leaving Y/n to watch over the car on her own. For a moment, she watches as they quickly fall into a conversation, even sharing a smoke. Smiling sheepishly, she looks away and around when she spots a familiar car sitting in the parking lot. She walks over and joins Steve sitting down on the back of his car, eyes gazing up at the sky.

"Mind if I join you?" Y/n's question makes his heart jump in his chest before looking over with relief. 

"I know you can travel through time but jeez, don't scare me like that" He says before reaching over to grab her hand and help her sit up next to him. "I thought you would have been inside. You helped pick out the music, didn't you?"

"I did but... Mr. Jones still teaches here, did you know that?"

"Wait, you mean he's still alive?" Y/n laughs.

"Apparently he was only fifty after we graduated from his class"

"And I suppose by the time we graduate high school he'll still be around. Four months and I'll be out of my dad's life for good. What about you? With the whole adoption thing, are you still gonna keep living in Hawkins?"

"I have no where else. Unless I decide to go to college somewhere far away... which kind of sounds scary to me. There'd be a lot I'd be leaving behind. Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Jane... You. My whole family, it's the first time I feel like I can live a normal life. I think I'll wait, maybe save up for tuition. Eventually I'll get out of here and start a life"

"Time will go by quickly. You, however, have all the time in the world" Y/n turns to meet his eyes. She can't help but admire his chocolate eyes, his pink lips. She forces herself to look away. "Whatever happens though, I just wanna make up for the years we lost"

"Then let's start right now"

"Huh?" Y/n leaps off the car, making the vehicle bounce a bit before reaching out for his hands. Steve only stares on with question.

"Dance with me"

"Wha-- Right here? In the middle of the parking lot?"

"Yes, Steve!" Y/n sighs, taking his hands and pulling him off the car. "In the middle of the parking lot, under the dark, star-littered sky. You remember how to slow dance right?"

"Uh, yeah! Of course I do"

"Alright, then place your hands on me"

"What? Wait--" Y/n sighs and takes his hands once again, setting them on either side of her waist before she puts hers on both his shoulders. They begin to sway to the rhythm of the music coming from the gymnasium. Steve looks at her nervously while she sheepishly smiles at him, trying to hide her nerves. They keep eye contact locked on each other, continuing to sway back and forth. 

"I think about all the times either of us could've died. I think about all the alternatives there are out there. It's crazy how much time travel can mess with your head sometimes. To think, in another world, you're dead or me, or someone else. In this one, it's Maggie. Wherever my future leads, I'm just happy you're here with me now, and I wouldn't go back to change anything" With that, both of them sink in closer-- Steve's arms wrap around her and hers wrap around him. She lays her cheek against his chest and his lays his against the top of her head. The duo stop swaying, instead they stand holding one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the start of Season 3. Although will probably be uploaded the day after S3 premiers (July 5th) just to give me some time to get a feel of the first episode. And finally, romance will start to brew. I have lots of ideas but that depends on how this season will end up. Heck, it may or may not be taking place of the first episode, who knows. I can't wait!! 2 more weeks!  
> I've yet to edit the chapters so there may be some mistakes, maybe even plot holes here and there[forgive me]-- I'm writing this at 4 in the morning lmao.  
> Thank you all for reading. Leaving kudos, comments, etc etc. It's all very appreciated and it motivates me to continue the story. Love ya'll <3

**Author's Note:**

> Season 1 complete. Chapter one of season 2 will be posted sometime this month. Thank you for the kudos, the comments, everything is appreciated. I'm sorry if it isn't to anyone's satisfactory and maybe don't like that Y/n has gifts or maybe the gift sucks. I also hope that Y/n doesn't seem too Mary-sue, it is not my intention. Thank you again for reading! <3
> 
> Update: Season 2 completed. Once again, thanks so much to everyone leaving comments, kudos etc. It means a lot to me <3


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